Tennessee LB Aaron Beasley Suspended After Allegations of Animal Abuse

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Tennessee suspended linebacker Aaron Beasley following allegations he abused a six-month-old kitten.

"We have received the incident report from the Knoxville Police Department," Tennessee said in a statement about Monday's decision, per GoVols247's Patrick Brown. "Aaron Beasley has been suspended indefinitely from all football team activities as we await further information."

WBIR first reported Saturday the Knoxville Police Department received a report about Beasley allegedly harming a kitten belonging to his girlfriend's roommate. The cat was taken to a medical facility, where it was discovered to have brain damage, a bleeding kidney hemorrhage and "is expected to have difficulty walking."

According to The Athletic's David Ubben, Kaylee Scarbrough entered her apartment last week and found her kitten, Nugget underneath a dresser. She found he was unable to walk due to apparent injuries to his back legs.

Scarbrough explained what happened next to Ubben:

"And that’s when my roommate Kinley [Bunting] walked up to me and was like, ‘Hey, I just remembered.' She said that she was in her bed around like 10ish or 11ish. And all she said she heard was my other roommate screaming, ‘No, Aaron, please. You can’t do that. No, Aaron, please.’ And then she started crying and then she heard my cat Nugget squeal like three times. A loud squeal, loud enough for her to hear in her room from the living room."

Bunting also said she received a text from Zoe Phillips, Beasley's girlfriend, in which she said Beasley had put the cat "in the toilet."

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Phillips told police she didn't see Beasley abuse the kitten.

Beasley is approaching his junior season at Tennessee. The Franklin, Georgia, native has nine career tackles in 17 appearances.

Per Brown, police have yet to arrest Beasley or charge him with a crime as part of the ongoing investigation.