I'm with you on this one. I'd love to see the actual incident, because I tend to think that it was disciplining, not beating. If it was true abuse, then I'm completely against it, but if it was a swift whack to his behind for pissing in a shoe, then I don't see anything inappropriate.
Same with kids, frankly. Some parents believe that talking to their kids and giving them time-outs is the way to teach them the difference between right and wrong. Others believe a firm spank on the ass is the way to go (again, spank, not beating). It's pretty apparent to me which parents have the better behaved children though.