Video: Centralia man attacked while protecting dog

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CENTRALIA, Wash. – When a Centralia man saw a puppy getting beaten with a chain, he tried to help.

What Jamie Beondik got in return was a beating of his own that landed him in the hospital.

Jamie says he'd do it all again.

Neighbors saw the four-month-old black lab named Tomba Wednesday morning being beaten, choked and dragged on a chain by a man on a bike.

Patsy Shelton watched the dog get kicked right in front of her house.

"I almost went outside," said Shelton, "and I thought 'you better not go outside.'"

Beondik decided to get involved, telling the man to stop hurting Tomba.

"He started swinging (the chain) around in the air and I says 'OK. Well, I'm going to call the cops.' And that's when he hit me with the chain," said Beondik.

He got hit in the legs and then the man and dog ran off.

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The black lab, named Tomba, was not seriously hurt in the attack.

Twenty minutes later, the man came back and attacked Beondik with a slingshot before throwing a rock at him, hitting him in the back.

Jamie now has to use the wall to steady himself and his hands won't stop shaking, but he expects to be OK.

Despite his injuries, he has no regrets.

"He was hurting the dog. I had a dog for 13 years that looked just like him. The dog was crying for help. I just wanted him to let go. I didn't think he'd freak out like that," said Beondik.

Police arrested the suspect and faces at least one charge of assault. They say he knows the dog's owners and worked as a farmhand on their goat farm.

Tomba apparently was not seriously injured.

"That's all that's important. The dog's okay and he's in jail," said Beondik.