A 20-year-old University of Georgia student has been charged with seven counts of animal cruelty after she beat a litter of puppies to death, according to Athens police.

Athens police said they believe Ashley Council killed the puppies and left them in a box behind a convenience store.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Council worked as a lab technician at UGA's Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Authorities said the litter of puppies -- that appeared to be between seven and eight weeks old -- were found in a box behind a store with a long pipe beside the puppies beaten bodies. Athens-Clarke County Police Detective Rebecca Taft said the puppies were covered with bruises and open wounds and she believed, "they suffered."

Taft also said the puppies were found huddled in a bunch.

Council was arrested after officials traced a shipping label on the box back to her. She was arrested Thursday and charged with seven counts of felony animal cruelty.

The junior from Ellenwood denied the charges.

"Whatever happened was unintentional," Council said in a telephone interview with The Red & Black student newspaper. "This isn't anything I'd do."

She added, "This is so bad. Everything is messing up. I didn't do anything."

A spokesman for the vet school, Tracy Giese, told the AJC Council is still employed with the hospital but does not have contact with animals.

According to Council's Facebook Internet profile, "Animal Planet" is among her favorite shows and she belongs to a group called "Animal Rights."