lawrenceburgnow.com
lawrenceburgnow.com

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Deputies Investigate Mule Beating Case

   Local law enforcement officials were asked to initiate an investigation Wednesday after an Alabama man learned that his mule had allegedly been abused by the man contracted to train the animal.

   The victim, Gary Wayne Francis, 51, of Vinemont, Alabama, brought the mule by the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department to report the injuries. He told deputies that he had taken the mule to the trainer’s home on Sugarland Road in Ethridge on May 17, and at that time the mule was in perfect condition. Francis stated that when last he had seen the mule, it had no sores or scars and was of a healthy weight.

   According to Francis he received a call from an individual who advised him to check on the mule. When he saw the animal again after the eighteen-day period, Francis reports it had lost weight and was covered in sores. Photographs taken by deputies show that the mule’s ribs were showing and his legs were hairless. In addition, they photographed injuries sustained by the animal, including:  sores and scars to the underside of the chest, a deep sore at the beck left hoof, a large knot under the chin, scars to the legs and hip, a stab-like wound to the underbelly, scars to the head, and a sore in the corner of the mule’s mouth. Francis reported he was told the injuries had been inflicted by tying the horse up and beating it with a chain.

   When deputies spoke with the trainer, he told them that he had tied the mule’s feet together “to show it that he would take care of it.” He stated that “he only hit the mule when it tried to back into him to kick him.” He told deputies that he would “do anything to correct the problem,” and that he and Francis had agreed that he would “pay him $3,000 and vet bills and they would be even.”

   The case currently remains under investigation by detectives with the department’s Criminal Investigation Division. At the time reports were filed, no charges had been filed.

.

.