Jefferson City Animal Shelter at capacity after local animal abuse investigation
Olivia Hayes
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Jefferson City Animal Shelter says it’s at capacity for dogs after taking in several following an animal abuse investigation.
Casey Logsdon, Jessica Morgan, Ashley Ousley and Henry Ousley Jr. were charged on Thursday with 19 counts of accessory to animal abuse.
Logsdon, 33, and Morgan, 41, were booked into the Cole County Jail on Friday morning and are being held on $10,000 bonds. Neither of the Ousleys were listed on the jail roster on Friday evening, though court records for both say a warrant was served and $10,000 bonds were set.
The probable cause statement says deputies were called to a mobile home for a welfare check when they were told about the animals. Court documents in previous reporting say kennels were found throughout the home that contained animals and were covered with urine and feces.
No fresh water or food was made available and all of the animals appeared to be malnourished, the probable cause statement says.
“There were multiple issues—infestation, animals not being provided with food or water, unbathed, completely malnourished,” Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson said. “It’s questionable whether some of these animals will survive.”
The court documents explained that Casey Logsdon owned some of the animals in the home of Henry Ousley, Jr.. Logsdon allegedly had regular access to Ousley’s home, knew the living and health conditions of the animals in Ousley’s care but failed to intervene, provide basic food and water or remove the animals from him.
“I think this case, with the condition those animals were in, more or less led us to say: This is more than just neglect. This is so egregious that it has to be considered abuse,” Thompson said.
Court documents say Henry Ousley Jr. was previously cited for similar reasons in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
ln 2019, Henry Ousley relinquished four Chihuahua or Chihuahua mix dogs to the animal shelter after an inspection, the statement says. Ousley had 19 dogs on the property at that time. ln 2021, Cole County Deputy Stockman responded to the same address to check on animals after a utility company called and reported two dead dogs in the yard, the statement says.
A number of animals saw signs of improvement after they were given proper nutrition for two days at an animal shelter, while at least five had to be euthanized for either aggressive behavior or poor health, the statement says.
The Jefferson City Animal Shelter wrote in a Friday evening social media post that adoption fees will be waived from July 28-Aug. 1 on all animals. The Brenna Siebert Fund is sponsoring the payment of the adoption fees and does so “a couple of times a year,” the post says.