Police: Man used to rock to fatally beat his dog

MELROSE, Mass. (AP) - Police have arrested a Massachusetts man they say beat his dog to death with a rock and buried the carcass in his backyard.

Melrose police say 44-year-old Adam Crook is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on an animal cruelty charge.

Crook was arrested Saturday after police got a tip from a neighbor.

Police allege he dragged his dog from his home on Friday night and struck the animal in the head with a large rock multiple times before burying it.

Police executed a search warrant to locate and exhume the dog.

Chief Michael Lyle called Crooke’s actions “absolutely reprehensible and inexcusable.”

It was unclear if Crook had an attorney.