By ANDREA JONES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/02/07
A University of Georgia student has been charged with seven felony counts of animal cruelty for allegedly beating a litter of puppies to death.
Athens police said Ashley Council, 20, violently killed the weeks-old puppies and left them in a box behind a convenience store earlier this month.
RELATED LINK:
• More Metro and state news
Council worked as a lab technician at UGA's Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Police traced a shipping label on the box back to Council. Animal control officers also found a long pipe alongside the puppies' beaten bodies.
Council was arrested early Thursday morning and taken to Athens Clarke County jail. The sheriff's office said she is no longer in jail.
Council is listed as a UGA student from Ellenwood in the 2006-2007 campus directory. The university registrar's office said no information is available on Council today.
Athens-Clarke County Police Detective Rebecca Taft said the puppies were covered with bruises and open wounds.
"They suffered," Taft said. "They were all huddled together in a little bunch."
Taft said the black, tan and white puppies were a small breed mix and she estimated their age between seven and eight weeks old. Doctors at the vet teaching hospital, where Council worked, performed a necropsy on the animals Sept. 12 to determine the cause of death.
"It was too early to tell what kind of dogs they were going to be," she said.
Tracy Giese, the spokeswoman for the vet school, said Council is still employed at the hospital.
Council is a part-time student clerical worker and her job does not involve contact with animals, Giese said in an e-mail.
Taft said Council adopted a dog from Animal Control in May and had called them the morning she allegedly killed the puppies to ask about surrendering them. She was told she could bring the puppies in, said Patrick Rives, animal control superintendent.
The student was not supposed to have dogs in her apartment, Taft said.
On her Facebook Internet profile, Council said she is a 2005 graduate of Stockbridge High School majoring in pre-law and political science. She listed "Animal Planet" among her favorite television shows and belongs to a group called "Animal Rights."
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...ge_tab_newstab
