In Defense of Animals’ Justice for Animals Director is Affiant 

CONTACT: Doll Stanley, doll@idausa.org, (662) 809-4483
VIDEO AND IMAGES: http://bit.ly/PuppyVacuum

Charleston, MS (Sept. 13, 2018) – In Defense of Animals, the international animal advocacy that operates the Justice for Animals Campaign and Hope Animal Sanctuary, located in Carroll County, Mississippi is announcing the trial today of a man caught on a car wash surveillance camera abandoning five small puppies in a box to which he affixed an industrial car vacuum hose. 

Justice for Animals Campaign Director Doll Stanley is the affiant in the case of The State of Mississippi V.S. Joseph Thompson of Charleston, Mississippi to be held in the Tallahatchie County Justice Court today, Thursday, September 13 at 2:00 p.m. 

On or about June 4, 2018, a surveillance camera at the Highway 32 car wash and Country Mini Storage captured a man taking a box out of the trunk of the vehicle he was riding in, and leaving it beside the vacuum unit of the car wash. He then walked back and placed the vacuum hose in the box. 

Kim Tennyson who owns and operates the car wash discovered the puppies and contacted Doll Stanley who leads the Justice for Animals Campaign for In Defense of Animals. Stanley immediately responded to the call for help. 

When Director Stanley arrived at the Highway 32 car wash, she was met by Tennyson who had begun caring for the puppies. The five puppies were taken to In Defense of Animals’ renewed Hope Animal Sanctuary in Grenada, Mississippi for care and placement in loving homes. 

“We didn’t expect the puppies to make it,” said Sharon Stone, Operations Director at In Defense of Animals’ Hope Animal Sanctuary. “The puppies were only four to five weeks old, and their hair was covered in a tar-like substance in addition to fleas and dirt. The two smallest puppies were extremely weak and barely able to move. Their eyes were matted shut.” 

The dedicated team at In Defense of Animals’ Hope Animal Sanctuary began the slow process of bathing and cleaning tar off the puppies’ fur, gently removing matting from their eyes, applying antibiotic ointment, worming them, and beginning a nutritious feeding regime to avoid overwhelming their little systems. 

“These puppies would have died a horrific death if the vacuum hose had sucked them up,” said Doll Stanley, who will present the facts in court today. “Animals are abused and abandoned in rural Mississippi at an alarming rate. Judges can deter would-be criminals by handing down the firm penalties for animal cruelty, and we are counting on Tallahatchie County Justice Court Judge Steve Ross to give the maximum sentence today.” 

In Defense of Animals is calling on presiding Tallahatchie County Justice Court Judge Steve Ross to hand Joseph Thompson a maximum sentence under § 97-41-16: Maliciously injuring dogs or cats. A person convicted of a first offense of simple cruelty to a dog is guilty of a misdemeanor and can be fined up to $1,000, or imprisoned up to six months, or both. 

The car Thompson was riding in belongs to his partner, but the driver cannot be charged for complicity in the crime of abandonment since they cannot be identified from the surveillance video. 

In Defense of Animals’ Justice for Animals Campaign is working tirelessly to advance the cause for justice in Mississippi and the Mid-South. The united coalition of animal advocates is aligning with judges, prosecuting attorneys, law enforcement officials, legislators, and concerned citizens to urge maximum sentencing in egregious cases of animal cruelty, and to pass meaningful regional ordinances that will protect animals when state statutes fail. In Defense of Animals has served in Mississippi for 25 years, aiding victims and law enforcement with hundreds of cruelty reports. 

You can discover and support the lifesaving work of In Defense of Animals at www.idausa.org