Minutes before the hearing began at Columbus” municipal complex Wednesday, placards lay littered by garbage cans, since they were not allowed in court.
“Stop animal cruelty,” one stated. Another quoted from Proverbs: “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.”
About 25 people had just finished staging a reserved rally against dog-fighting. They headed inside to witness a hearing for Joseph Ellis, who allegedly possessed four scarred and bloody adult pit bulls, two pit bull puppies, and equipment officials believe is used to train dogs to fight. Columbus-Lowndes County animal control officers took the six dogs to the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society July 14.
During the hearing inside Columbus Municipal Court, Ellis, 19, pled guilty to failing to get a rabies shot for each dog, not keeping the dogs property-confined, cruelty to animals and lacking a property identification.
Judge Curtis Austin fined Ellis $236 per count and ordered him to pay $1,400 in restitution to the local humane society, for taking care of the dogs.
If Ellis does not pay the fines in cash or work them off through the community work program within 60 days, he will have to speak with the judge again. If the judge finds him to be in contempt, Ellis may have to pay up to $1,000 or spend up to six months in jail. If Ellis does not pay the restitution, he will have to make an arrangement with the Humane Society.
Several of the protesters appeared outraged Ellis received nothing more than “a slap on the wrist,” to use the words of Karen Johnwick, executive director of the local humane society.
“It”s ridiculous,” she said as she left the courtroom. “Seven hundred fifty dollars? It should be per dog.”
Rally participants gathered in the hallway and caused so much noise, a security guard directed them farther away from the courtroom. Eventually they spilled out of the building.
Outside the municipal complex, Ellis” mother, Laverne, said she thought the penalties were “fair enough, under the circumstances.”
The circumstances, she said, were that “he was not fighting his dogs.”
Rather, she said, “One dog broke loose and started fighting the others” while her son Joseph was not around.
To build the case against Joseph, she said, an animal control officer had entered the family”s home without a search warrant and produced a number of items she said were irrelevant, including an antiseptic and a weight-training chain.
After Johnwick walked outside, she noticed Columbus Police Chief Joseph St. John walking toward the complex. She asked him what the city might do about imposing heavier penalties for offenses related to dog-fighting.
“We will get there. We will. I promise,” St. John said. But he stopped short of second-guessing the judge.
Audrey Orek, of Clay County, a representative of the newly established organization Mississippi-Fighting Against Cruelty Together, or MS-FACT, told others at the anti-dog-fighting rally about the most recent push to make dog animal cruelty among dogs and cats a felony.
Rep. Gary Chism, R-Columbus, said he has seen the bill come up several times in the House, but not once did he see it being discussed on the floor. He did not think it would “possibly go anywhere, you know, in the future,” he said in a phone interview after the hearing Wednesday.
He added, “I hate that anybody is doing this to dogs. But I think … it”s going too far to make it a felony.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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