Phong Thanh Tran, 43, was also sentenced by city court judge Robert Sneed to pay a $1,000 fine and to perform 100 hours of community service at the Madison-Oglethorpe Animal Shelter.
Judge Sneed ordered Tran to be taken into custody immediately following his trial Jan. 18.
Danielsville police officer Cleve Williams and police chief Brenan Baird presented the evidence of the events of Nov. 27 and showed Judge Sneed pictures taken of the animal and his position on the trailer.
Williams responded to Hwy. 98 around 5:30 p.m. that day after hearing that someone called E-911 dispatch to report a live cow strapped down to a flat bed trailer being pulled by a Kia Sorrento SUV.
Williams spotted the SUV and trailer traveling east toward Comer as it came through town and said the animal turned its head as the trailer passed by his patrol car. He told the judge the cow grunted and attempted to turn its head from side to side after he made the traffic stop.
Williams noted in his report at the time that the cow was strapped down on its stomach and tied at each hoof and appeared to be wounded on both legs, with one leg appearing to be punctured and injured. A fifth strap was placed over the cow’s neck and tightened down so that the animal’s head was pinned to the front railing of the trailer.
Tran told officer Williams he was headed to a processing plant in Nicholson, but an official at the plant in question told Williams that Tran did not have an appointment there that evening, which he would need to have it processed.
Police chief Baird said the cow’s bones were broken as a result of the tie down and that officials at a local meat processing plant where the animal was taken to be killed immediately following Trans’ arrest said it was damaged too badly to be processed.
In his defense, Tran testified with his son’s help that it was the first time he had received a “large animal” from a friend and he was not aware the law did not allow him to transport a live animal in this manner. He said he was of the mindset to just get the cow strapped down in such a way that it would not fall off.
“Well, it certainly wasn’t going to fall off,” judge Sneed said as he viewed the photos.
The man who gave Tran the cow, Dennis Sikes, was on hand to testify in Trans’ defense. Sikes told the judge that he had given Tran the cow because it had been paralyzed for “a couple of weeks” and he had continued to feed it thinking it might have a damaged nerve. When the cow failed to recover, he said he gave it to Tran to have it processed, or to process himself, so the meat would not go to waste.
When questioned by Judge Sneed, Sikes admitted that he was aware and had in fact watched Tran strap the animal down onto the trailer for transport. He said he would not have transported the animal in this way himself, as he had an enclosed trailer. He said he believed it was going directly from his farm to be killed and that it was paralyzed anyway so he didn’t think the animal felt anything “on the back end.” He explained to the judge that for the meat to be processed properly, the animal needed to be bled at the time of processing, which was why it was transported alive.
“Were you there when he tied this cow down and you let him do that?” Judge Sneed asked.
“Yes,” Sikes said, reiterating that the cow was paralyzed already.
He said his thought process was that they were saving the meat.
“You can say it was cruel, but the cow was already not feeling pain in the back end,” Sikes told the judge.
“What I am getting from you is you would not have done it this way but you let him do it,” the judge said.
Sikes agreed.
Another friend of Trans said he helped with the transport and said neither he nor Tran were aware it was against the law.
At that point, Judge Sneed shook his head, saying the real issue was about how to humanely treat an animal, more than the fact that a law was broken.
“And I am sure it was feeling pain, there is no way that it couldn’t,” the judge said.
Sneed then pronounced Tran guilty of animal cruelty and told him that his sentence was to pay a $1,000 fine, serve 12 months of mandatory probation and serve 100 hours of community service at the animal shelter.
He asked Tran if he understood he had committed a crime and he replied that he did understand that.
Sneed said that was good, because he also had 10 days to serve in the county jail and he was to be transported there immediately.
He further told Tran he needed to gain an understanding of animal cruelty and if this happened again he needed to know that “this is absolutely sick.”
The judge told Sikes that he needed to get “up to speed” as well on the way he would allow an animal of his to be treated.
“You don’t want any animal treated this way,” Sneed told him.
Tran was explained the conditions of his parole and sentence by court personnel, then handcuffed by officer Williams and taken to the Madison County Jail.
(Madison Journal Today - Jan 25, 2016)
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