Heartbreaking news.

Ruined. Lives have been irreversibly destroyed. Those who did wrong but cannot bear to face the consequences of their actions have won another battle.

Appeals court agrees to hear horse abuse case
Posted by Danielle Quisenberry | Staff Writer
June 12, 2008 18:20PM
Categories: Breaking News

The Michigan Court of Appeals agreed today to hear arguments about whether the owner and manager of a Grass Lake Township farm can face charges of animal torture.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Chad Schmucker issued a decision April 30 dismissing three felony torture charges against James Henderson Jr. and Matthew Mercier, who were accused of causing three horses to suffer.

The county prosecutor's office appealed Schmucker's ruling and the higher court granted its leave to appeal, delaying indefinitely any action on the case in Jackson County, said Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Blumer.

A hearing scheduled for Friday and a trial to begin next week on neglect charges against Mercier and Henderson have been canceled.

Blumer said it is up to the appeals court to decide when the case will be heard. That could take months, he said.

How incredibly sad. Sending "rescued" horses to slaughter, and ruining careers and reputations. Way to go, Jackson County!

This would have ended today. Critics of the way Animal Control violated human rights and protocol in seizing the herd of horses -- the overwhelming majority of them healthy, with a few fixable issues -- were certain that the misdemeanor charges would be dropped just as the felony charges were. But the hearing scheduled for today was canceled.

Now Jackson County will stretch this another YEAR while the "rescued" horses suffer unknown fates (and some known fatalities) and the accused are subjected to further unjust hardships.

I'm sorry for all of your losses.

Jackson County: If you drag this out another year, or two, or five -- those who remember what you did will still be here, watching and waiting. We know what you did to these men and these horses was WRONG and if you think that by dragging it out, we will lose interest and disappear, you are mistaken.