On a 96-hour hold for a mental health evaluation, a rural Joplin man purportedly threatened “to blow up the police department” if any of his animals were taken from his property.
Newton County deputies and an animal cruelty task force with the Humane Society of Missouri report having rescued 57 dogs and a few cats while serving a search warrant Tuesday at the man’s property south of Joplin on Aspen Road.
Many of the animals were malnourished and had inadequate shelter and little to no access to food or water.
Newton County Prosecutor Will Lynch filed a misdemeanor count of animal abuse and a felony count of making a terrorist threat Wednesday on the 24-year-old man even as he remained committed for the 96-hour hospital hold.
One of two probable-cause affidavits filed with the charges reveals additional details of what deputies and rescue workers found while serving the search warrant.
