Seaside Heights Man Who Beat Dog To Death Pleads Guilty To Animal Cruelty

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Seaside Heights man admitted in Ocean County Superior Court on May 22 that he caused the death of Booshu, a 10-year-old Bichon Frise dog, last summer because he said the dog bit him first.

But autopsy results on the 15-pound dog showed she had multiple rib fractures on both sides of her body, multiple bruises and broken and missing teeth, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Nicholas Piccolino, 34, said he threw the little dog to the floor because she bit him. In an earlier story, he said the dog soiled her crate and he dropped her while he was cleaning her up. He is slated to be sentenced on July 7.

Piccolino minimized how he caused Booshu’s death when he entered his plea and said he threw her to the ground when she bit him. He gave the same explanation to the victim/owner after the crime, Della Fave said.

Piccolino admitted that Booshu was only about 15 pounds and his actions caused all the injuries to Booshu, and caused her death, Della Fave said.

Booshu's owner came home on August 19, 2016 after Piccolino notified her that something was wrong with her dog. She found her dog dead on the bathroom floor. Piccolino told her that Booshu "dirtied" herself in her crate and that he dropped her while he was cleaning her up.

NJSPCA Detective Sgt. Larry Donato and Seaside Heights police officers determined that an upstairs resident of the house heard loud banging sounds and a dog yelping in the kitchen below, Della Fave said.

Booshu was taken to the Red Bank Animal Hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival. A subsequent necropsy performed on Booshu by Dr. Shannon Swist of the NJ Animal Health Diagnostic Lab found that Booshu suffered multiple blunt force injuries to her head and body that contributed to her death.

Donato presented his findings to Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Heidi Tannenbaum-Newman who approved third degree charges of torment, torture, unnecessarily or cruelly beating a living animal to their death.

Piccolino remains incarcerated in the Ocean County Jail.

Image: Courtesy of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office