Drew Briney, 20, is likely one of the first, if not the first, person to be charged with felony aggravated cruelty to an animal under a new animal cruelty statute recently passed into law in Arkansas.According to an Associated Press story published in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Briney allegedly took a Shetland pony into the woods in Drew County, Arkansas and beat the small pony to death with a wooden baseball bat. The story reports that Briney killed the animal at the behest of the pony’s owner after the pony was discovered to be bleeding from the ears. Drew County Sheriff Mark Gober stated the pony was likely attacked by another animal. Gober also believes Briney did not have a gun, and that is why he resorted to using the wooden bat. However, Gober points out that under the new Arkansas law, putting down the pony with a gun would not be considered humane either.
Under Arkansas Code 5-62-102 it is a felony to “torture [] any dog, cat or horse.” Torture is defined by the code as:
knowing commission of physical injury... by the infliction of inhumane treatment
or gross physical abuse, causing the [animal] intensive or prolonged pain,
serious physical injury, or thereby causing death.
The statute does contain an exception for putting down seriously injured animals in good faith and in a humane manner. Sheriff Gober says that did not happen in this case. To read a previous blog post about the Arkansas statute click here.
Posted: 08/06/09
