Case Details

Donkey dragged behind ATV
Huntington, WV (US)

Date: Aug 30, 2004
County: Cabell
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted

Abuser/Suspect: Hurston Gue

Case Updates: 4 update(s) available

Case ID: 2689
Classification: Vehicular
Animal: other farm animal
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The Cabell County Sheriff�s Department is investigating reported animal cruelty regarding a donkey allegedly dragged behind an all-terrain vehicle in the Branchland area, according to a sheriff�s department report.

The incident reportedly occurred about 4 p.m. Monday in the 1300 block of Bowen Creek Road. Four witnesses are listed on the report, including a man who said he saw the donkey dragged nearly a quarter of a mile across the asphalt-surface road. He said the animal was bleeding badly and left a trail of blood.

Sheriff Kim Wolfe said that the animal�s injuries were so severe that a veterinarian suggested it be euthanized Tuesday. Wolfe said the donkey had lost a great deal of "flesh, tendon and bone."

Witnesses took photographs of the animal, which have been turned over to the sheriff�s department detective bureau. Witnesses told the investigating deputy that the donkey was tied by a rope behind a red four-wheeler and dragged while on its haunches. They said a man eventually loaded the animal into the bed of a green Ford truck and it "seemed barely alive."

The man suspected in the incident, a 77-year-old Branchland resident, told the investigating deputy that he was leading the animal when it fell. The man said he took the donkey home and treated its wounds before releasing it back to pasture.

The investigating deputy drove along the 1300 block of Bowen Creek Road and wrote in the report that he measured a trail of blood "well over 4/10 of a mile long, ending in a large pool of blood." He also indicated that he took photographs of the scene.

Wolfe said authorities will revisit the site today to check if the suspected man has other animals. If so, Wolfe said they will be confiscated.

Case Updates

Gue was taken to jail Friday after a judge found him ineligible for home confinement.

In February, a Cabell County magistrate sentenced Hurston Gue of 1348A Bowen Creek Road to three months in jail and fined him $1,000. The case garnered national attention after a jenny -- a female donkey -- owned by Gue suffered massive injuries to her haunches after she was dragged more than four-tenths of a mile behind a four-wheeler, according to witnesses.

Witnesses described a blood trail "ending in a large pool." The jenny was euthanized to alleviate her suffering, and the tending veterinarian said she had suffered "abrasive wounds down to the bone."

On Friday, Cabell County Circuit Court Judge Dan O�Hanlon said Gue was ineligible for home confinement and ordered him into custody.

According to authorities, Hurston Gue refused to disconnect his answering machine to establish a field monitoring device to randomly call the defendant�s house, a prerequisite for home confinement.

Gue wouldn�t agree to installing another phone line, said Tina Sarver, a home confinement officer for the Cabell County Sheriff.

"He said he needed the answering machine and couldn�t remove it," Sarver said.

Gue�s attorney Doug Reynolds said Gue�s doctor told him not to disconnect the answering machine for medical emergencies.

"He wouldn�t disconnect the answering machine on doctor�s orders," Reynolds said. "He has heart trouble and has had surgery for cancer."

Gue was handcuffed and led away by a sheriff�s deputy.

In his trial last month, Gue had testified when driving his four-wheeler, he has to keep his eye closely on the road. He also had said he had been around donkeys for more than 60 years and had owned more than 100 of them.

"I didn�t have no intentions of hurting the animal," he said during his trial.

Since the state couldn�t prove beyond a reasonable doubt Gue intentionally wounded the donkey for the primary purpose of inflicting pain, the state couldn�t charge him with felony animal cruelty, assistant prosecuting attorney Jara Divita wrote in a letter to The Herald-Dispatch.

"In the Gue case, the State could not prove that he dragged his donkey for the primary purpose of inflicting pain," Divita wrote. "Through my preparation of the case and its prosecution, it was very probable that the jury would have found that Gue was attempting to lead the donkey with the ATV to another pasture for grazing."
Source: The Herald Dispatch - March 12, 2005
Update posted on Mar 12, 2005 - 4:42PM 
Hurston Gue, convicted of dragging his donkey behind an ATV, dropped his appeal Friday and asked a judge to sentence him to home confinement. Gue appeared in Cabell County Circuit Court on the morning of Feb 25, 2005 and agreed to serve his 90-day jail sentence.

Last month, a jury found Gue guilty of animal cruelty. Last August, sheriff's deputies said Gue dragged the animal behind an all terrain vehicle for nearly a half mile near his farm in rural Cabell County.

A veterinarian testified the donkey's injuries were so severe, the animal had to be put to sleep.

Gue has maintained that he never wanted to hurt the donkey.

Circuit Judge Dan O'Hanlon will decide in two weeks whether to send Gue to jail or allow him to serve his sentence at home.
Source: WBOY - Feb 25, 2005
Update posted on Mar 2, 2005 - 9:29AM 
Cabell County Magistrate Michael Woelfel denied a motion Monday to have Branchland resident Hurston Gue tried in a court outside Cabell County.

Assistant Cabell County Prosecuting Attorney Jara Divita, arguing for the state, said that to get a change of venue, a defendant must establish a current hostile sentiment against the accused throughout the entire county in which the defendant is to be brought to trial.

"The defendant failed to meet that burden," she said.

Woelfel said the trial will be scheduled for sometime in January.

If convicted, Gue faces up to a six-month jail sentence and a possible fine of $300 to $1,000. He remains free on $50,000 bond.
Source: The Herald Dispatch - Oct 26, 2004
Update posted on Oct 28, 2004 - 9:53PM 
Gue pleaded innocent Friday to an accusation that he dragged his pet donkey over an asphalt road with an all-terrain vehicle.

Hurston Gue, 77, of 1348A Bowen Creek Road in the Branchland area, appeared before Magistrate Patty Verbage Spence at the Cabell County Courthouse. He was accompanied by lawyer Doug Reynolds of the Public Defenders Office.

Gue is charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty and, if convicted, faces up to a six-month jail sentence and a possible fine of $300 to $1,000.

On Aug. 30, Gue's female donkey suffered massive injuries to her haunches after she was dragged more than four-tenths of a mile by a Honda four-wheeler along Bowen Creek Road, according to one witness. Witnesses described a blood trail "ending in a large pool." The jenny was euthanized to alleviate her suffering, and the tending veterinarian said she had suffered "abrasive wounds down to the bone."

Gue�s cousin Edsel Gibson, 74, also of the Branchland area, accompanied Gue to the Friday hearing. Last week, Gibson had said that his cousin was unfairly accused of dragging the jenny, saying that it happened accidentally. Gibson added that he and Gue have raised animals, including horses and livestock, for most of their lives.

The case against Gue has ignited public and media response throughout the United States. The Herald-Dispatch has received e-mail messages from readers in California, Texas, Pennsylvania and Michigan, among other states.

Gue�s court appearance Friday seemed subdued compared with Friday, Sept. 3 when he surrendered to authorities at the courthouse. Despite the widespread publicity regarding the case, no animal rights activists showed up to protest Friday.

Verbage Spence said that Magistrate Mike Woelfel will take over the case, and that a court date is expected within the next four to six weeks.
Source: The Herald-Disptach - Sept 11, 2004
Update posted on Sep 14, 2004 - 2:47AM 

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References

The Herald-Dispatch - Sept 1, 2004

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