District 8 school board member Mike McMillan is due in General Sessions Court this Thursday morning, Jan. 16, after being cited for animal cruelty on Dec. 8, 2019.
The animal control officer who issued the citation to court noted “horses, cattle and mules” were suffering. McMillan “admitted he did not feed his cows,” according to the officer, who also wrote “no water could be found.”
McMillan told the officer he was sick and had only one farmhand to help him. He said it took “more than two people” to take care of the animals.
This was not McMillan’s first citation. A Criminal Court worker said records show he was cited by Animal Control on Oct. 23 and Nov. 22 of last year.
There are three docket numbers with the provided violations for this Thursday morning’s court date:
- 1032177B – Livestock/fencing
- 1032178B – Animal Care – Cruelty
- 1032179B – Animals running at large
The company information database website Buzzfile lists McMillan’s Thorngrove Pike farm in the non-commercial cattle services industry. Repeated calls to McMillan were unanswered.
Larry Van Guilder is the business/government editor for KnoxTNToday.