Man charged with animal cruelty gives his side of the story

TENNESSEE -- The video circulated on Facebook, sparking outrage among many people and leading to over 100 calls into the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office.

Buster Allen Jackson appeared in Sullivan County Circuit Court Tuesday morning to answer animal cruelty charges.

He says he "only" dragged her 10 feet. Oh and he supposedly has a hernia
and is under "doctor's orders" not to pick up anything and THAT is why he
had to drag his dog by its leg while it screamed in pain

According to the court affidavit, Jackson's neighbor called deputies after seeing Jackson pull his dog by its rear leg back onto his property, where he tied it up.

The neighbor told officers the dog was yelping as if it was in pain. The neighbor shot video of the incident on his cell phone and gave that to officers.

In the video clip, he uses his fingers to quote "neighbor" and then does
it again when he says "hero" in a mocking way to describe the person
who videotaped his abuse of the dog and contacted authorities.

The video sparked outrage among the community after circulating on Facebook.

Jackson told our crews before court that he loves his dog and he was not abusing it.

We've learned the dog was adopted from the Kingsport Animal Shelter last month. It is once again being cared for by shelter staff.

Staff members say the dog is doing well and will be held at the shelter until the court approves its release.

We will have more on the charges and the dog later on News 5 WCYB.

(WCYB-May 20, 2014)