College football quarterback suspended following alleged dog abuse

Missouri State University has suspended quarterback Breck Ruddick indefinitely after he was accused of animal abuse in a Facebook post.

A fellow student claimed that Ruddick beat his friend's 42-pound Australian shepherd, Luca. The university's Office of Student Conduct is investigating.

Just hours after the Facebook post surfaced, Ruddick was suspended for "conduct detrimental to the team," and he won't return "until the situation is resolved."

The Facebook post:

Since then, an online petition to remove Ruddick from the Missouri State football team has reached nearly 50,000 signatures. Once the Office of Student Conduct reaches a conclusion, they will turn the findings over to the athletic department for discipline.

"It's obviously very serious," athletic director Kyle Moats said in a statement. "Not only athletics, but the entire university takes it very seriously. That's why there will be an internal investigation conducted by our Student Conduct office. We'll take it from there once we find out what the findings are."

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