Former huskies owner denied her dogs at Thursday hearing

JONES COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - A Jones County Justice Court courtroom broke into applause Thursday afternoon after a woman accused of animal cruelty did not get her six dogs back.

After seeing videos and photos and hearing testimony from a local veterinarian, animal rescuer and deputy, Virginia Kanan was told by Justice Court Judge David Lyons she would not be getting her Siberian Huskies returned.

“Hopefully, I can get a little bit of sleep now,” said Jones County Sheriff’s Department deputy Regina Newton. “I haven’t been sleeping good, worrying about it all.

“Worrying that the dogs were going to back in those conditions kept me up at night.”

Not only are the dogs not being returned to Kanan, they are not staying in the state.

The six surviving huskies are being sent to a rescue site, “3 Husketeers Rescue,” in Pennsylvania that deals specifically in rehabilitating the breed.

“What makes this case so horrible is that these animals had an owner who was supposed to have been caring for them and giving them food and water,” said animal rescuer Murray Windham.

“It’s not unusual to see stray animals in this condition, but these animals had someone (who) was supposed to be taking care of them, and that did not happen.”

Last month, Jones County officials were tipped by phone calls reporting the mistreatment of the dogs.

Newton, who was the first to arrive from JCSD, found eight dogs on the property. One dog was deceased; the other seven, badly malnourished.

Soon after being rescued, one of the seven had to be put down because of its condition.

Kanan was arrested and charged with one count of animal cruelty.

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