FLOYD COUNTY, Ga. — A Floyd County man is facing a felony animal cruelty charge after deputies say his goat was found hanging by a chain with a gruesome neck wound at a vacant property.
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According to an arrest affidavit, Stephen Robert Jones is charged with aggravated cruelty to animals following an investigation that began on July 24 at a home on Maple Road in Lindale.
A neighbor told investigators the goat had been tied to a runner at the vacant home for months and that he had regularly brought it water because no one else was caring for it.
On July 23, the neighbor found the goat tangled in the runner and hanging by a chain around its neck. The chain had become embedded in the animal’s neck, leaving what deputies described as a 1-inch-deep, 3-inch-wide necrotic wound.
The neighbor and his wife, a retired nurse, removed the chain, cleaned and bandaged the wound, and have continued caring for the goat.
Investigators say Jones admitted he owned the goat and had moved it to the vacant property because he could not keep it at his home.
He told deputies he had placed the animal on a runner after it repeatedly escaped but acknowledged he never checked on the goat after learning it had been injured.
The arrest affidavit alleges Jones failed to provide the goat with daily care or medical attention, leading to the severe injuries.
Jones was arrested on July 27 and taken to the Floyd County Jail.
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