Man charged with cruelty to animals
RUSSELLVILLE – A Marion County man is facing an aggravated cruelty to animals charge after a Franklin County grand jury returned an indictment regarding a February case where two horses were found extremely emaciated.
The sheriff’s office received several calls on Feb. 16 about a horse being deceased across from the city hall in Hodges. Calls also described the horse as being deceased for a long time and animals were eating at the carcass.
Deputies located an address for the owner, which was listed in Marion County. Deputies contacted Jack Stephen Davis, 67, and told him about the calls the sheriff ’s office had received, and he was instructed to have the horse buried within 24 hours.
Deputies then went to check on the horse and found it to still be alive.
“You could see the ribs, spine and hip bones of the horse,” Sgt. Kyle Palmer of the sheriff’s office said. “The horse just laid on the ground, kicking trying to get up every couple of minutes but was unable to get up.”
The horse also had a mare in the pasture with it, and it was emaciated. Bones were visible.
“Other people on the scene told deputies that the horse did not have any water and that some guy, who was not the owner, had brought some hay to the pasture more than a week before deputies arrived on the scene,” Palmer said.
The horses did not have any feed or any other type of mineral feed other than the bale of hay, Palmer said.
Deputies returned to the owner’s residence, and Davis told them he was sick and unable to care for the horses.
“Deputies asked [Davis] if he was willing to sign the horses over to the sheriff’s office and then we would sign them over to a person who would care for them,” Palmer said. “[He] agreed to sign them over and signed a piece of paper agreeing to that.”
Palmer said the older horse was so neglected that it ended up dying.
Davis was arrested Saturday night and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, which is a Class C felony.
If convicted, Davis could face one to 10 years in jail and be fined up to $15,000.
Davis was booked into the Franklin Cunty Jail, where he remains as of Monday morning.
