Connect with us

Mississippi Today

Ex-Corinth city employee, fiance charged with 27 counts of animal cruelty

Published

on

mississippitoday.org – Mina Corpuz – 2024-08-09 15:57:05

A north Mississippi animal shelter caring for 27 dogs whose owners have been charged with animal neglect is hoping that the case is an opportunity to reexamine the state’s animal protection laws, which have been rated as among the weakest in the nation. 

The owner and his fiance are facing misdemeanors.

“Stuff like this case is not as uncommon as people think it is,” said Meridith Perry, interim director of the Corinth Alcorn Animal Shelter. “It is happening more than people realize.”

One puppy was dead and scavenged by the other dogs. 

A tip from a neighbor led the Corinth police to a Pleasant Grove Road home where several dogs were outside. Inside, police and staff from the shelter and rescue organizations found malnourished and sick dogs without food and water. 

Mixed breed dogs ranging in age from a few months old to adult age hid under furniture and others stood on it, video released by the local animal shelter shows. Feces and urine covered the ground. 

Perry said the shelter is over capacity since taking in the rescued dogs. 

The owner of the home, Jonathan Hurst, a Corinth city employee terminated this week, was arrested July 28 and, days later, so was his fiance, Sondra Bullard. Both were charged with 27 counts of animal cruelty – a misdemeanor charge for each dog discovered at the property.

After initial hearings last week, both pleaded not guilty and were released on personal recognizance, according to the Corinth Municipal Court’s office. Their next scheduled court date is Nov. 4. 

They could not be reached for comment Friday.

Authories fourn 27 dogs of varying ages and a dead puppy without food and water in a Corinth home last week, some hiding under the furniture. Two people have been charged with simple animal cruelty, a misdemeanor, and the animals have been removed. Credit: Courtesy of Meridith Perry/Corinth Alcorn Animal Shelter

Hurst, who worked for the city’s sewer department, lost his job Tuesday. Mayor Ralph Dance said the termination was unrelated to the animal neglect case, but rather issues related to his employment, the Daily Corinthian reported

The city is also considering demolition of the home where the dogs were found because it has been contaminated and is not salvageable. 

The Animal Legal Defense Funds ranked Mississippi’s animal protection laws as No. 45 in the nation in its recent report, based on statutes and categories of protection. 

In Mississippi, a charge of simple animal cruelty includes the criminal neglect or intent of depriving a dog or cat of adequate shelter, food or water or confining them in a cruel manner. A charge carries a penalty of up to six months in jail or a maximum $1,000 fine, or both. 

For Hurst and Bullard, that could mean up to 13 ½ years of jail time, $27,000 in fines or both if convicted of all 27 charges.

Aggravated cruelty, a felony, is intentional harm of a dog or cat. Each charge can come with a maximum three-year prison sentence, a $5,000 fine or both. Subsequent offenses within five years carry a prison sentence of one to 10 years and a maximum $10,000 fine. 

“We’re not really holding people accountable to the level they should be,” said Perry, who noted that in other states, there is more of an ability to charge animal cruelty as a felony rather than a misdemeanor.

Under state law updated in 2020, a judge can prohibit someone from owning animals in the future, order the person to seek counseling or to complete community service. 

Those found to violate that prohibition can be fined and their animals forfeited to the state, according to state law.  

Convictions have varied for people charged with animal cruelty under the law. 

In 2020, a Jones County woman was charged with 38 counts after caged and hungry dogs were rescued and five dogs were found dead at a property she owned. She was sentenced to 114 months in jail with six to serve, thousands in fines, hundreds of community service hours and an order to undergo a psychological evaluation. 

Last year, a woman who ran a Harrison County animal rescue organization pleaded no contest to 10 counts of animal cruelty and was ordered to serve six months in jail. Sheriff’s deputies went to her property in 2022 and found 30 dead dogs, a dead buzzard and live dogs that were taken in by the nearby animal shelter.

A man pleaded guilty in March to aggravated animal cruelty for throwing a dog off a balcony in Hattiesburg, breaking its bones. In an order of nonadjudication of guilt, he was ordered to complete community service and remain in good behavior. 

The FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System began collecting information about animal cruelty incidents from law enforcement agencies in 2016. But the agency cautions that the numbers may be underreported because not every law enforcement agency reports data and animal control agencies and humane organizations that often investigate cruelty aren’t able to report data. 

Preliminary analysis of the data from 2018 found 4.3 animal cruelty incidents nationally per 100,000 people – far less than incidents of crimes such as assault, robbery and drug offenses. 

In Mississippi, data from the reporting system from 2020 through 2022 showed a total of 362 reported animal cruelty incidents. As the FBI noted, the data is likely underreported because for these years, incidents were reported from 30 to 80 agencies – a fraction of the hundreds of law enforcement agencies that exist in the state. 

As of Friday, the rescued dogs from the Corinth home are recovering. Eight of them were taken into the care of Guardians of Rescue and placed in foster homes out of state. The remaining are in the care of the Corinth Alcorn Animal Shelter. 

Some of the younger ones in better health will be ready for adoption or transport out of state in the coming weeks, Perry said. 

Through the end of the month, adoptions are $50 for dogs that have been at the shelter for a year or more, which she said will help clear up space. 

The shelter staff expressed gratitude to the community and supporters from beyond Corinth who have donated dog food, cleaning supplies and money to help with medical bills. 

“The support has been overwhelming,” Perry said. “We didn’t expect anything of it. We had no idea of what to expect. We just put out the call.” 

For more information about how to help the shelter and updates about the rescued dogs, visit www.facebook.com/corinthanimalshelter

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

On this day in 1997

Published

on

mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-22 07:00:00

Dec. 22, 1997

Myrlie Evers and Reena Evers-Everette cheer the jury verdict of Feb. 5, 1994, when Byron De La Beckwith was found guilty of the 1963 murder of Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers. Credit: AP/Rogelio Solis

The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the conviction of white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith for the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers. 

In the court’s 4–2 decision, Justice Mike Mills praised efforts “to squeeze justice out of the harm caused by a furtive explosion which erupted from dark bushes on a June night in Jackson, Mississippi.” 

He wrote that Beckwith’s constitutional right to a speedy trial had not been denied. His “complicity with the Sovereignty Commission’s involvement in the prior trials contributed to the delay.” 

The decision did more than ensure that Beckwith would stay behind bars. The conviction helped clear the way for other prosecutions of unpunished killings from the Civil Rights Era.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Continue Reading

Mississippi Today

Medicaid expansion tracker approaches $1 billion loss for Mississippi

Published

on

mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-12-22 06:00:00

About the time people ring in the new year next week, the digital tracker on Mississippi Today’s homepage tabulating the amount of money the state is losing by not expanding Medicaid will hit $1 billion.

The state has lost $1 billion not since the start of the quickly departing 2024 but since the beginning of the state’s fiscal year on July 1.

Some who oppose Medicaid expansion say the digital tracker is flawed.

During an October news conference, when state Auditor Shad White unveiled details of his $2 million study seeking ways to cut state government spending, he said he did not look at Medicaid expansion as a method to save money or grow state revenue.

“I think that (Mississippi Today) calculator is wrong,” White said. “… I don’t think that takes into account how many people are going to be moved off the federal health care exchange where their health care is paid for fully by the federal government and moved onto Medicaid.”

White is not the only Mississippi politician who has expressed concern that if Medicaid expansion were enacted, thousands of people would lose their insurance on the exchange and be forced to enroll in Medicaid for health care coverage.

Mississippi Today’s projections used for the tracker are based on studies conducted by the Institutions of Higher Learning University Research Center. Granted, there are a lot of variables in the study that are inexact. It is impossible to say, for example, how many people will get sick and need health care, thus increasing the cost of Medicaid expansion. But is reasonable that the projections of the University Research Center are in the ballpark of being accurate and close to other studies conducted by health care experts.

White and others are correct that Mississippi Today’s calculator does not take into account money flowing into the state for people covered on the health care exchange. But that money does not go to the state; it goes to insurance companies that, granted, use that money to reimburse Mississippians for providing health care. But at least a portion of the money goes to out-of-state insurance companies as profits.

Both Medicaid expansion and the health care exchange are part of the Affordable Care Act. Under Medicaid expansion people earning up to $20,120 annually can sign up for Medicaid and the federal government will pay the bulk of the cost. Mississippi is one of 10 states that have not opted into Medicaid expansion.

People making more than $14,580 annually can garner private insurance through the health insurance exchanges, and people below certain income levels can receive help from the federal government in paying for that coverage.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation championed and signed into law by President Joe Biden significantly increased the federal subsidies provided to people receiving insurance on the exchange. Those increased subsidies led to many Mississippians — desperate for health care — turning to the exchange for help.

White, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, Gov. Tate Reeves and others have expressed concern that those people would lose their private health insurance and be forced to sign up for Medicaid if lawmakers vote to expand Medicaid.

They are correct.

But they do not mention that the enhanced benefits authored by the Biden administration are scheduled to expire in December 2025 unless they are reenacted by Congress. The incoming Donald Trump administration has given no indication it will continue the enhanced subsidies.

As a matter of fact, the Trump administration, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is looking for ways to cut federal spending.

Some have speculated that Medicaid expansion also could be on Musk’s chopping block.

That is possible. But remember congressional action is required to continue the enhanced subsidies. On the flip side, congressional action would most likely be required to end or cut Medicaid expansion.

Would the multiple U.S. senators and House members in the red states that have expanded Medicaid vote to end a program that is providing health care to thousands of their constituents?

If Congress does not continue Biden’s enhanced subsidies, the rates for Mississippians on the exchange will increase on average about $500 per year, according to a study by KFF, a national health advocacy nonprofit. If that occurs, it is likely that many of the 280,000 Mississippians on the exchange will drop their coverage.

The result will be that Mississippi’s rate of uninsured — already one of the highest in the nation – will rise further, putting additional pressure on hospitals and other providers who will be treating patients who have no ability to pay.

In the meantime, the Mississippi Today counter that tracks the amount of money Mississippi is losing by not expanding Medicaid keeps ticking up.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Continue Reading

Mississippi Today

On this day in 1911

Published

on

mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-21 07:00:00

Dec. 21, 1911

A colorized photograph of Josh Gibson, who was playing with the Homestead Grays Credit: Wikipedia

Josh Gibson, the Negro League’s “Home Run King,” was born in Buena Vista, Georgia. 

When the family’s farm suffered, they moved to Pittsburgh, and Gibson tried baseball at age 16. He eventually played for a semi-pro team in Pittsburgh and became known for his towering home runs. 

He was watching the Homestead Grays play on July 25, 1930, when the catcher injured his hand. Team members called for Gibson, sitting in the stands, to join them. He was such a talented catcher that base runners were more reluctant to steal. He hit the baseball so hard and so far (580 feet once at Yankee Stadium) that he became the second-highest paid player in the Negro Leagues behind Satchel Paige, with both of them entering the National Baseball Hame of Fame. 

The Hall estimated that Gibson hit nearly 800 homers in his 17-year career and had a lifetime batting average of .359. Gibson was portrayed in the 1996 TV movie, “Soul of the Game,” by Mykelti Williamson. Blair Underwood played Jackie Robinson, Delroy Lindo portrayed Satchel Paige, and Harvey Williams played “Cat” Mays, the father of the legendary Willie Mays. 

Gibson has now been honored with a statue outside the Washington Nationals’ ballpark.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Continue Reading

Trending