MASON CITY – The Executive Director at Humane Society of North Iowa expressed “shock and disappointment” at an Iowa appeals court ruling this week that let a man off the hook after he beat a puppy to death with an aluminum baseball bat.
Sybil Soukup told NorthIowaToday.com Thursday after hearing about the ruling that she is “shocked and disappointed yet again that the enforcement of the laws to protect animals in our state (are) so lax and inept.”
Zachary Meerdink of Davenport appealed his 2012 conviction for animal torture arguing the state’s evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. Meerdink had beaten “Rocky” – a 7-month-old Boston terrier – to death with a baseball bat in 2011.
“It is hard for me to believe anyone would think that beating a defenseless puppy to death with a baseball bat would be considered anything less than a depraved and sadistic act, which according to Iowa code, is animal torture,” Soukup said.
