Beaten dog leads to cruelty charges

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A Shelby man was charged with felony animal cruelty after police said he hit his dog on the head causing severe brain injuries.

Animal control officers said that someone saw Sam Mullinax, 64, hit the adult terrier mix in the head with a stick on Tuesday.

Cleveland County Animal Control supervisor Trip Bowling told Channel 9’s Ken Lemon that this is, “One of the worst cases I’ve seen.”

“The dog was hit, collapsed and it looked like it couldn’t get back up,” said Bowling.

Animal control workers found the dog laying in Mullinax’s front yard on South Pointe Road in Earl.

“He admitted that he had hit the dog because it wouldn’t listen to his commands,” Bowling said.

Bowling said Mullinax didn't seem to be concerned about the dog's head injury.

The injuries were so severe that he dog had to be put to sleep.

Animal control seized four dogs and transported them to the Humane Society.

Mullinax is the first person in Cleveland County to be charged under Susie's Law, which was passed last June.

Susie’s Law reclassifies animal cruelty from a Class I to a Class H Felony, giving judges the ability to send convicted abusers to jail for up to 10 months.

The Humane Society said it means Mullinax could be sentenced to as much as eight months in prison.

“We would like to see more than that when it comes to this serverity of the cruelty,” said Marguerite Mebane with the Human Society. “This was a real serious act.”

Before the new law animal cruelty was considered a misdemeanor.

Mullinax was jailed, with bail set at $10,000.