AR-News: (TN - US) Man linked to starving dogs gets probation

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

Man linked to starving dogs pleads guilty to animal abuse, gets probation 
Thursday, Feb 5, 2004

By WESLEY R. BUSH/Staff Writer 
A Columbia man accused of allowing two dogs to starve to death while chained up at his former home last summer pleaded guilty to animal abuse Wednesday.

John C. Davidson, 57, was arrested in July and charged with aggravated animal abuse for the deaths of two of four Great Pyrenees dogs that were left on his former property at 900 Eastview Drive.

The state would be unable to prove Davidson intentionally caused harm to the animals, Judge Robert L. Jones said, and Davidson pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of failing to reasonably provide necessary food, water or care to an animal in his custody.

He was given a one-year suspended sentence with supervised probation until his court costs were fully paid. 

The aggravated cruelty statute requires proof that the actions were carried out in a "depraved and sadistic manner and which tortures or maims an animal." 

An anonymous call led Maury county Animal Control Officer Randy Bratton to Davidson's former home, which he had abandoned about two months prior, according to a police report.

Two dogs were found dead and two others were barely alive, according to police reports. Three dogs were chained to various locations throughout the yard. 

One of the dogs, a Great Pyrenees named Cyrus, was near death and taken to the Maury County Animal Shelter where he gained weight and underwent heartworm treatments.

"The first day that I saw him," said Animal Shelter Director Claudia Johnson, "he could barely walk, and he was so emaciated that you could count every rib, every bone in his back."

Cyrus was later adopted by Great Pyrenees Rescue, a group that finds homes for abused and neglected animals. 

Aggravated animal abuse became a Class A misdemeanor in July 2002 after the Tennessee General Assembly passed the more severe crime into law. 

A first-time conviction on the charge can result in a $2,500 find and up to a year in jail. A subsequent conviction would be a Class E felony. Before the new law was passed, multiple convictions would be misdemeanors in every instance.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a national animal-rights group, sent a letter to the DA's office, urging District Attorney Mike Bottoms to "vigorously prosecute" Davidson. A spokesman for the group said it had received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from people interested in the case.

In 1999, Davidson pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted aggravated sexual battery and was sentenced to two four-year probations to be served consecutively.

He is scheduled to appear before a judge Thursday for a revocation hearing for that probation.

"I expect that petition to be withdrawn," said Gary Howell, Davidson's attorney.

Wesley R. Bush may be contacted at wbush at c-dh.net or (931) 388-6464 ext. 3020.