A Muscatine man is headed to the slammer for killing a puppy. Thirty-year-old Zachary Scott Meerdink has been sentenced in Scott County District Court to two years in prison. He’ll also receive a psychological evaluation.
Meerdink was convicted of animal torture, an aggravated misdemeanor, for beating a puppy to death with a baseball bat. It happened last December 14th at an apartment complex in north Davenport. A woman living with Meerdink told cops that the 4-month-old Boston terrier had urinated on the floor.
She said Meerdink then took the dog outside and beat it to death with an aluminum baseball bat. Police found the dog’s body. Meerdink already had a police record. He was on parole from a 2004 drug conviction when he killed the dog.
By Phil Roberts, Davenport