Not Guilty Pleas Made In Felony Animal Cruelty Case

Two Cavour men charged in the alleged beating of a horse have pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Sixty-seven year old Dennis Kerney and 35-year old Justin Murray entered their not guilty pleas before Circuit Judge Jon Erickson Tuesday. The men are each charged with a single count of felony animal cruelty.  Attorneys for the men requested jury trials. Erickson set pre-trial motions hearings in both cases for May 5th. Tentative trial dates for both men are set for June 10th. Court documents on file with the Beadle County Clerk of Courts indicate the men are accused of striking the Appaloosa horse with wooden objects when the animal became difficult to work with as they attempted to groom it. Kerney and Murray are the first in Beadle County to be charged with felony-level animal cruelty, a statute approved by the 2014 South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota was the last state in the nation to enact such level of animal cruelty.