Solomon Beebe, a running back on the University of Virginia football team, was arrested this week on three misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. Court records show the charges stem from two separate dates, August 10 and August 12, involving his pit bull, Jeb.

A witness at Beebe's apartment complex near Charlottesville told animal control officers she saw him hold Jeb against a wall and punch him repeatedly while the dog cried out in pain. Albemarle County animal control seized Jeb on August 13 and placed him in protective custody at the local SPCA. Beebe was released on unsecured bond and is due back in court.

Virginia opens its season on August 29, and so far the university has said only that it does not comment on ongoing criminal proceedings or student records. That is not good enough. A player facing credible, documented allegations of repeatedly beating his own dog should not be allowed to keep playing while the case is unresolved, and the dog at the center of this case deserves more certainty about his future than a brief statement provides.

This petition calls on the University of Virginia and head coach Tony Elliott to suspend Beebe from all team activities until the charges are resolved. It also calls on Albemarle County animal control and the SPCA to keep Jeb out of Beebe's custody and place him in a safe, permanent home, and on the Albemarle County Commonwealth's Attorney to pursue this case fully, without any special treatment because Beebe is a college athlete.

Jeb cannot speak up for himself, and right now the people with the power to protect him have gone quiet. Sign the petition now to demand Virginia suspend Solomon Beebe and ensure Jeb is never sent back into that home.