Horse abuse pleas likely

Court date set in animal cruelty case

Collierville area horse trainer Jackie McConnell and two co- defendants told a judge through their attorneys Friday that they were ready to enter guilty pleas in the animal cruelty charges they are facing involving more than a halfdozen Tennessee Walking horses.

Circuit Judge Webber McGraw set a June 18 plea date for the three men to return to court at the Bill G. Kelley Criminal Justice Complex in Somerville.

As McConnell, 61, left the courtroom with his wife and several others he told a reporter, “I don’t have any comments.” Afterward, his Somerville attorney David L. Douglas said his client is ready to put this behind him.

McConnell is charged with 22 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.

His co- defendants, Jeff Dockery, 56, of Collierville, is facing three counts of animal cruelty and John K. Mays, 48, of Holly Springs, Miss., has 14 counts of animal cruelty. Both Dockery and Mays worked for McConnell at Whitter Stables in Fay- ette County, just over the Shelby County line near Collierville. Each count of animal cruelty carries just less than a year in jail.

In 2011, the Humane Society of the United States secretly shot video inside a training stable owned by McConnell showing caustic substances being applied to Tennessee walking horses’ legs and hooves and the animals being beaten to make them stand. The soring is meant to create a longer exaggerated stride and gait, which is a more extreme version of what the horses do naturally.

“We believe no plea agreement should be accepted that fails to include a jail sentence,” said Keith Dane, equine protection director of the Washington-based Humane Society.

Dane said McConnell has been disqualified by the U. S. Department of Agriculture numerous times for violating the Horse Protection Act. “This was the first time there was enough evidence to prosecute him criminally. Justice should be served. Violators should suffer consequences.”

Even if the case had gone to trial and his client was found guilty on all 22 counts, Douglas said McConnell would not have faced 22 years in jail. The limit, he said, likely would