A jury has found a South Bend man not guilty of torturing or mutilating an animal.

68-year-old John Hill was accused of the crime, after he admitted to police that he hit a dog with a hammer in his front yard last February.

Court documents show Hill told investigators the dog was sick, and he was trying to put it out of its misery.

The dog was left in a snowbank and had to be euthanized at an animal hospital.