Lincoln County is not immune to abuse and neglect, officialssay, and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department recently made itsfirst animal seizure to prevent further neglect.

“I don’t think we have a great problem here in the county,” saidSheriff Wiley Calcote. “We do see more of a problem with smallanimals, like dogs and cats, then we do with large animals, likecattle and horses, when we do have something.”

However, the department recently made its first actual animalseizure during the current administration in mid-June when aregistered two-year-old horse and a one-year-old donkey were seizedfrom a residence in the Lake Lincoln community, according to DeputySudie Palomarez, who supervised the case.

The animals were suffering from starvation and general neglect,she said. Their corral was bereft of grass or hay, their ribs wereplainly visible and they had several untended open sores.

“It took months for them to get in that condition,” Palomarezsaid. “The vet said they had probably been neglected for at leastsix months. The horse’s hair was falling out. It didn’t have anyhair. They wouldn’t have made it through the summer.”

The sheriff’s department received at least six complaints fromresidents in the area during the two week process to seize theanimals, she said. Normally, the process does not take so long, norwill it again.

“This is the first time we’ve actually taken animals fromsomeone, so it’s been a learning process,” Palomarez said. “I nowknow exactly what to do so it won’t take me two weeks again.”

The Mississippi Animal Rescue League assisted the sheriff’sdepartment in making the seizure and would have taken the animalshad a local foster family not been found.

The animals are at a temporary foster home in the countynow.

“You wouldn’t recognize them now,” Palomarez said. “They’re sofat and happy. They won’t be returned to the owner.”

The animals are currently the property of the Lincoln CountySheriff’s Department, she said, and the department has two optionsfor permanently placing them.

They can either be permanently placed with the foster owners orthey can be placed with another owner. If placed elsewhere, shesaid, the new owners would have to reimburse the foster owners fortheir expenses in returning the animals to good health.

Not all criminal offenses involve money or people, Calcotesaid.

“I do feel that if someone has an animal, they should take careof it and be responsible for it,” he said. “If they can’t do that,they should get rid of it before this occurs, and I don’t mean bydumping it beside the road.”

Capt. Dustin Bairfield, a K-9 officer with the department,agreed.

“Some people consider their pets as family. Others don’t,” hesaid.

The general, all-encompassing animal cruelty law is amisdemeanor offense, he said. Legislative efforts to strengthen thelaw in the past few years, possibly making it a felony, have failedto clear both houses.

Other, more specific laws, also address specialized forms ofanimal cruelty. Laws with more serious penalties exist fordog-fighting and cock-fighting. However, Bairfield said, a quirk inthe cock-fighting law makes it legal to raise cocks for the sport,which is popular in some other Southern states and Mexico.

“We do have some minor animal cruelty laws on the books now thatwe we try to enforce,” he said. “Even though it’s only amisdemeanor, we go out and enforce animal cruelty.”

Bairfield said he has seen animals that have been cut up forsadistic amusement, but the most common offense is simpleneglect.

Most of the cases investigated here are minor, he said, such asowners tying dogs to a tree or another obstruction in the yardwhere the dog is unable to get to food and water or pets abandonedby their owners during a move – but left outside tied to atree.

Most of the time, Bairfield said, a first offense on neglectonly requires a warning for the owner to take better care of theanimal or transfer it to another owner. Deputies follow up on thewarning a day or two later to see if the owner took steps tocorrect the problem. If not, the law is enforced and the animal isseized.

The sheriff’s department works with the Brookhaven Animal RescueLeague on dog and cat cases, but teams with the Mississippi AnimalRescue League in Jackson on larger or specialized pets.

“We commend the sheriff’s department on seizing these animals,”said Beth Adcock, a member of BARL’s board of directors. “It’s goodto know our law enforcement officials take animal crueltyseriously.”

Palomarez encouraged residents to call the sheriff’s departmentor BARL if they witness or suspect abuse or neglect. The departmentalso investigates abuse or neglect referrals received through BARLor MARL.