Man Arraigned in Mt. Montmorency County for Neglect of Animals

Although the Department of Natural Resources doesn’t normally handle animal abuse cases, they recently stepped into an investigation near Atlanta. Scott Alan Thompson, 56, of Hawks, was arraigned in Mt. Montmorency County 88th District Court. There is still one unnamed female suspect awaiting capture. “One of our officers responded to a complaint of a dead horse in a pasture. Upon going to the scene, noticed the dead horse and then several other animals who were either starving or without water and poor living conditions. Ultimately, that resulted in several search warrants and led to the seizure of multiple animals. There is a variety, everything from horses to sheep, goats, pigs, dogs and poultry,” Department of Natural Recourses Law Enforcment Division Sgt. Paul Fox said.

Officers seized 75 animals and were able to relocate them to adequate facilities for proper care. “The animals were seized and placed into several different farms who can adequately care for them. As of now, the animals could be condemned and ordered to go to someone else. However, that has to work through the court process,” said Fox. The odor of a dead horse had alerted neighbors. “Well, there is a lot of uproar with local residents watching all of this unfold over years, basically the mistreatment of animals. A lot of the area farmers were not happy with the condition that these animals were in and wanted to see something be done with it,” Fox commented. “So, the big question is why the DNR with this case? It’s not something we normally handle. We typically stick to natural resources, recreational safety and enforcement. However, at the time that this initial call came out, one of our officers just happened to be in the area and there weren’t any other resources available to handle the complaint. So, when our officer responded and noticed there’s a bigger issue here than what was initially thought. Since we started the investigation, we felt obligated that we’re going to finish it,” Fox said.