TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)— Wednesday afternoon, dozens gathered outside of the Vigo County Courthouse because of an animal cruelty hearing.
According to a probable cause affidavit, on October 27, officers responded to an animal cruelty incident at the residence of James Minard. The officer found out that a 10-year-old bulldog named Melvin had been beaten several times over the head with a shovel.
Upon hearing this news, the CEO of Happy Tails Animal Rescue Taylor Bullock is calling for change.
“I hope moving forward that I can work on creating a Melvin’s Law that makes it an automatic felony when people abuse animals,” said Bullock. “It is just like abusing a child to me and he did it in front of children and it was so traumatizing for those kids and the officer who had to put that animal down. I am here to just try and make a change.”
Bullock said that the typical response in this area is not enough punishment for these types of crimes.
“Animal abuse in our community seems to just keep getting a slap on the wrist,” said Bullock. “As an animal rescue, we rescue a lot of abused and neglected animals, but they are normally off the street, and we don’t know who did the abuse and this lets us put a face to a name.”
Bullock said the people of Vigo County need to come together to get justice for Melvin and any other abused animal.
“These are amazing animal people as they rally every time we have an event, but they are just like everyone else in this community that is just done,” said Bullock. “We are done, and we need to see change happen.”
After his initial hearing, Minard was charged with torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal, a felony, and cruelty to an animal, a misdemeanor.
