- Florida, USA -
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office arrested 42-years-old MITCHELL ALAN GENS (pictured).
According to the arrest affidavit obtained by Voice For Us, on December 15, 2023, a deputy responded to a property on 11111 138th Avenue in reference to a hog who had been shot.
Upon arrival, a couple of witnesses told the deputy that GENS had chased their brown breeding hog from his property to theirs. They also said that as one of them was approaching GENS, GENS said he was going to kill the hog.
After hearing that threat, the witness became afraid of further confrontation with GENS who was also carrying a rifle.
As the hog ran back to his/her pen, GENS shot the defenseless animal with an AR-15 multiple times in the hip and belly area causing the hog to suffer before his/her death.
According to the witnesses, GENS had also shot the hog in the foot the night before.
One of the two witnesses took a picture of GENS as he was leaving the scene carrying a rifle and then showed it to the deputy.
The deputy looked at the deceased hog and reported seeing three gunshot wounds. One in the hip, one in the side of the belly, and one in the side rib cage area.
When GENS was contacted and questioned via cell phone, he told the deputy that the hog was going through his garbage and he tried to shoot him/her while chasing him/her off his property but missed. GENS added that he was “allowed to shoot nuisance animals”, stated the affidavit.
GENS then agreed to meet with the deputy at the sheriff’s office to further discuss the incident.
During the interview, GENS stated that the hog had been rummaging through his trash numerous times in the past and that the day of the incident he caught him/her on his property going through his trash, so he took the rifle and shot the hog while he/she was still on the property.
According to GENS' statement, after being shot, the hog ran back to his/her pen and as GENS was following the animal, one of the two witnesses approached him. At that point GENS said he was going to kill the hog and the witness told him to go ahead. GENS stated he shot the hog approximately eight more times.
The murderer was placed under arrest on Sunday, December 17, 2023, and booked into the Indian River County Jail for felony Aggravated Animal Cruelty, which includes inflicting pain, serious physical injury, or death to an animal.
The following day GENS was released after posting a $1,000 bond. Court records show that GENS, of Fellsmare, is scheduled to be arraigned on February 1, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. before Judge Robert Meadows.
According to the affidavit, “The witnesses did not want to pursue charges for the incident.”
Authorities did not disclose the hog’s name so I took the liberty of naming the Voiceless Victim Cinnamon for the tribute image. Should his/her given name be made public, I will rectify it accordingly.
Disclaimer: This story is sourced from court documents.
GENS’s mugshot shared from the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.
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