MISSISSIPPI -- Two Lincoln County women are scheduled to be in Lincoln County Justice Court Wednesday to face charges of animal cruelty.
Jean Norton, 67, and Beverly Greenwood, 43, of 2274 Mallalieu Dr. S.E., Ruth, were charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals that they keep at Choctaw Ridge Farms Rescue. It is located on Mallalieu Road in the Ruth community.
Norton and Greenwood rescue hoofed animals from kill-sale (horse slaughter auctions) situations, as well as animals surrendered by individuals. The couple also have a menagerie of other animals, including cows, pigs, sheep and dogs – some personal, some not – on the property.
Lincoln County Sheriff Wiley Calcote said complaints have been coming in about Greenwood and Norton for the past year. Also, officials with the animal rescue league in Jackson have looked at the facility, Calcote said.
“We’ve gone as far as the Sheriff’s Department can go,” Calcotesaid. “Its now up to the justice court.”
Calcote said the women have a good idea in helping rescue hoofed animals, but he wants to make sure it is done in a humane way.
“They have a good thing in mind,” said Calcote, himself a horse enthusiast who is involved in rodeos and similar activities. “But there comes to a point in time to put an animal down.”
Several people in the area are concerned about what is going on at the farm, Calcote said.
“We’ve been investigating the matter for about a year,” hesaid.
The sheriff said some complaints have also surfaced about dead carcasses laying in the pastures.
“This is when it becomes a liability to others,” said Calcote, indicating that neighbors were concerned about sickness and diseases.
Greenwood said only three horses have died since they’ve been at their current location. Each time, she said, a bulldozer was hired to come in and bury the animal.
Greenwood said she keeps detailed records on all of her horses and keeps them up to date on shots and wormings.
“All of our animals have up to date Coggins,” said Greenwood, referring to a state-mandated blood test.
Greenwood was aware of the complaints lodged against her. She indicated the complaints began shortly after she and Norton came to Lincoln County.
Greenwood and Norton moved to the 11-acre site around two years ago. The pair also rent pasture land for their animals.
While discussing caring for over 30 sick horses and the other animals, Greenwood admitted she had a hard time turning away an animal.
Thirty horses on 11 acres??? That's ridiculous. In a perfect world, you'd want 5 acres per horse but absolute minimum would be 1 acre per horse unless you have the money to constantly buy their feed and hay.
“I can say ‘no’ to people, but I have a hard time saying ‘no’ to an animal,” Greenwood said.
Most of the horses rescued by Greenwood and Norton are malnourished or injured when they take possession of them. The women take the horses, rehabilitate them and offer them for adoption, which can turn into a long, drawn-out process.
Greenwood said when a horse starts to decline, it does so in stages. First, it loses body fat; then muscle mass; and then its hair; and then its skin will begin to slough off.
She said the process then reverses when the horse begins to recover. That is why it takes a horse so long to begin to look better, she said.
The women receive no special funding or grants to assist with the care of the horses. They rely strictly on their incomes, which include Social Security and disability.
“We go through a ton and half of feed in six days and five to seven round bales of hay a week,” Greenwood said.
The pair estimate they have spent about $45,000 on feed in the past two years.
On social security and disability checks??? I doubt it. Plus, why is Beverly Greenwood claiming to be disabled?
Norton and Greenwood were adamant about being innocent of the charges being brought against them.
“The charges just aren’t true,” Norton said.
THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP
From animalcollectors.net (which does not appear to be live any longer):
"Leopards don't change their spots"! Neither do animal collectors and abusers. The only thing that has changed with Greenwood's relocation to Ruth, MS, is the locale.
This is an account by a resident of Ruth, MS, complied over the weekend of January 22/23, 2005.
Beverly Greenwood is currently living at 2274 Mallalieu Dr., Ruth, MS, located outside of Brookhaven, MS. She is living with Gean H. Norton, the owner of the property where they are currently keeping horses, cows, goats, chickens and a lot of dogs.
The total acreage of their current location is about 11.14 acres. Part of the land is wooded so there is about 6 or 7 acres of pasture. There are currently about 30 horses and 10 cows on the place, and this would be on the low side. It's hard to keep up because poorer animals are constantly being moved into less visible areas. There are also goats and chickens, and 20-30 dogs which run loose together, and are continuously fighting among themselves.
Gean is a woman. The rumor is she inherited some money, and that's how they bought the place. She introduced Beverly as her daughter to 2 different people. Apparently she has a place in Bogue Chitto. These two occasionally go on trips they call "work", so may still be involved in dog relocation. Beverly's two daughters, Monique and Danielle, are also involved in this operation. (Beverly Greenwood also has a son located in Bogue Chitto named Brian Huval.)
Beverly and Gean represent themselves as rescuers of animals, but in the 7 months they have been living there, not one animal's conditions has improved. The skeletons they bring in stay skeletons and the fat horses start losing weight. 3 horses have died, 2 in the last month. These are only the ones I'm aware of. They also had a dead colt, caused when bad weather made the mare go into labor early.
One of the cows is nothing but a skeleton with a hide stretched over it, and they have 3 calves and 1 yearling nursing her.
Different people that live in the area have contacted the Humane Society, the sheriff, the State Animal Health department and the Board of Health with no results.
Since the Pets and People.org people continue to defend Beverly and have her on their board, they may be providing some of the funding for this animal hell. Pets and People is not a registered charity listed on the Registered Charities for the state of Mississippi. A neighbor called the phone number listed on the Pets and People website last night (January 23,2005), and it was answered by Gean Norton who is in Ruth, Mississippi. She verified through the operator that this is a cell phone number.
A lot of the animals are hidden on one side of their place I can't really get to, or get good pictures with my digital camera. Some of the skinnier horses are over there. The Belgian mare in these photos came in huge and you can see what she looks like now.
There is a dead calf laying on the back part of their place, also. I had heard about it and checked for myself this morning. It looks like it was born dead, not surprisingly since the cow is very poor. They hauled her off this afternoon (January 22, 2005).
When Norton and Greenwood moved onto this place in June, 2004, the Belgian mare in the photos was one of the first horses they brought in. She was hugely fat, even after she had a colt a week or so later. I don't know what happened to the colt, as I haven't seen it in several months. The mare has steadily lost weight since she arrived.
Horses have continued to arrive almost weekly since they took possession of the place. Fat horses come in and begin to lose weight. There is absolutely no improvement in any of the horses that are brought in already poor.
A horse died there some time in the late summer or early fall. It was taken to a vet in Franklin county to be put down because, "Franklin County buries them for free."
Two horses died within weeks of each other on November and December, 2004. No vet was ever called for either of them.
The second one was a Belgian gelding that also came in very fat and had steadily lost weight. It died in their barn after a neighbor had heard it kicking all night. It weighed over 1500 pounds when it came in. He started losing weight immediately, and probably weighed less than a 1000 pounds when he was allowed to die. After being warned by neighbors that there was something wrong with the horse, he was put into their barn where he died after kicking several hours. Although he died early in the day, he was buried under the cover of darkness. . A vet was never contacted, only a guy with a backhoe to bury it.
We try to keep a good eye on these people, but all have full time jobs, so it's not always possible.
(The Daily Leader - May 15, 2006)
