CLYDE, N.Y. (AP) _ Authorities in Wayne County have charged two Amish men with killing a dog and her nine puppies after no one bought the young animals.

Wayne County District Attorney Richard Healy says Friday that when 26-year-old Merlin Schumacher  of Galen failed to sell the Australian red heeler puppies, he asked 19-year-old Jonathan Eicher  of Lyons to shoot them.

State police say Eicher admitted killing nine puppies and their mother with a .22-caliber rifle. Healy says troopers investigated after a highway crew found some of the dead dogs in a roadside ditch in December.

Healy says Eicher told police that killing dogs under such circumstances is accepted among the Amish.

The DA says both men have been charged with animal cruelty. They are due back in court next month.