Regular readers might remember that the mayor of New Brockton AL, Lenwood Herron, was charged with animal cruelty in conjunction with severe neglect at the town’s pound last year. His lawyer attempted to get the case dismissed but failed. The trial began yesterday and included testimony from the sheriff, a veterinarian and a local animal shelter president who witnessed conditions at the pound in May 2011:
“When I got there, there were three dogs in the kennel and a puppy in an Igloo doghouse. There was a puppy I thought was dead in there and had a mass on the forehead and (an) eye swollen shut. I noticed two water containers that both had a black slush collected in it,” he said. “The pen was covered in 60 to 70 percent feces. One dog was shaky and trembling. These dogs were neglected and obviously in need of medical attention.”
The mayor’s attorney offered the it’s-a-conspiracy defense:
Letta Dillard Gorman, Herron’s attorney, in addressing the jury, said, “virtually everything they (council members and some residents) could do to him has been done, but he is still here. Any investigation going on is against him. You’ll hear from council members and some who are ‘attacking him.’ I want you to look at the witnesses and see the hatred in their eyes. It has nothing to do with animal cruelty.”
If the sheriff, the town council, and the residents of the city truly have it in for you, can you really put forth the notion that you are a good mayor? Seems slightly contradictory to me.
I’ll be following developments in the trial.