Two college athletes in the US allegedly beat a duck with a baseball bat so severely that it had to be put down.

Jacob Thomas Frye, 19, and his accomplice Thomas "Landon" Grant, also 19, were arrested by police in Alabama over the shocking case of animal cruelty on May 5.

According to reports, the pair were both attending a party at the Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City with other colleagues from the college's baseball team.

A police indictment says they went to a pond on the college's campus and grabbed a white Muscovy duck and struck it with a baseball bat.

Frye and Grant then took it to a nearby apartment where they stuffed it in a bag and and continuously beat it in order to "put it out of its misery", it is claimed.

The students are accused of later disposing of the animal in a nearby woods, assuming that it was dead.

A coach from the university found the wounded animal after a the commotion and brought it to a veterinarians.

They later later took the tragic decision to euthanize the injured bird because its injuries were too severe for treatment.

The coach notified college officials about the incident who launched its own investigation and contacted police from the Alexander City Police Department.

Det. Robert Oliver says the two culprits have slapped with the felony charge of aggravated animal cruelty.

Grant was eventually arrested on May 31 and booked on a Class C felony, AL.com reported .

He was released that same day after posting a $5,000 bond, and his court date is set for late July, a minimum one-year prison sentence.

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