JERRY FINK

MANAGING EDITOR

A 67-year-old Hanna man has been arrested on an animal cruelty charge for allegedly beating a dog with a baseball bat.

Jesse Paul Burcham was arrested at his residence on Aug. 12 after McIntosh County Deputy Sheriff Bradley Smith responded to a report about animal abuse.

Associate District Judge Brendon Bridges entered a not guilty plea for Burcham after the suspect’s initial appearance on Aug. 13.

Bond was set at $10,000 and he was ordered back to court for a pre-preliminary conference on Sept. 17.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed by Smith, Smith asked the suspect where the dog was.

“Jesse said the dog was probably dead by the barn,” the report stated.

The dog, which reportedly did not belong to the suspect, apparently survived the attack.

Smith said he examined the dog and found a swollen area on the right side of his face, blood in its nose, blood in its mouth and a swollen right eye.

Jesse said he hit the dog with a bat approximately three to four times because it was chasing horses earlier in the day, according to the affidavit.

Smith said Jesse told him there were nine other dogs on the property and he beat a German Shepherd first “due to it being the mother to the other dogs and hopefully it would teach them.”

Smith said he asked the defendant if he was trying to kill the dog “and he said yes.”

The deputy confiscated a bat Burcham said he used.