Will Justice Ever Be Served?

Yesterday, In Defense of Animals staff were in the Tallahatchie County Justice Court in Mississippi for the 5th docket since the March 3, 2015 incident. On that date, IDA investigators were asked to respond to a report that a mare and her mule colt were dead, or dying. What they found was heart wrenching. A mare lay dead yards from her mule colt who was in the throes of death. While law enforcement thought of how to best move the colt, our team got a blanket to cover him. He cried a pitiful cry when he feared he was being left. He was covered and rubbed, but he’d been prostrate on a rain soaked hill. Within minutes his head began to contort backwards, a sign of imminent death and his breathing became shallow. He had to be euthanized.

We filed two counts of cruelty against the property owners. On the first court date, the land owners informed the court they were not responsible for the horses. They claimed the animals belonged to a relative who had removed two other horses the morning of the investigation. Charges were filed against the two “owners” of the horses and warrants were issued.

After months of continuing the case, the prosecuting attorney in the case asked the judge to dismiss charges against the land owners, since they had been in court and there was no one to counter their claims of having been away and thus not being responsible for the horses. Chase Griffin and Christina Shook, the alleged “owners” of the horses have not been arrested. Shook‘s location is unknown, with rumors of Arkansas. Griffin disappeared after being served his warrant the night before the 4th court day while he was in jail on another charge. The charge for starving an equine in the State of Mississippi is $100 per animal. The statute of limitations is two years. Will we ever see justice for the mare and her precious baby who suffered so excruciatingly much?

Read more in our press release here.