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Mayoral candidate charged in killing of neighbor's hunting dog

Therese Apel
The Clarion-Ledger

A Pearl mayoral candidate accused of shooting and killing his neighbor's hunting dog surrendered to police, officials confirmed Thursday.

Authorities said Mike Prestage, 51, is facing charges of animal cruelty, discharging a weapon in the city limits and malicious mischief.

Josh Jordan's dog, a Mountain Cur, went missing on March 13. Jordan spent days looking for it. Pearl Police Department Lt. Brian McGairty said that over the weekend Jordan saw buzzards flying over the back of Prestage's lot. Jordan told authorities he went to a lot on an adjacent street to look over the fence.

McGairty said Jordan recognized his dog's brindle color and orange collar on Prestage's lot. Jordan called police, who were able to access Prestage's property and found the dog.

McGairty said juveniles witnessed the shooting. WAPT's Megan West reported that neighborhood children witnessed the shooting.

Prestage declined to make a statement to police about why the dog was shot.

McGairty said nothing in the report indicates that Jordan had previous contact with Prestage about the dog. There was a previous incidence of dogs on Jordan's property a few months ago, McGairty said, but they were pit bulls that did not belong to Jordan.

"What we understand is this was a recently purchased dog," McGairty said. "Mountain Curs are squirrel dogs; they're playful animals."

The number listed on Prestage's political Facebook page and on billboards was disconnected Thursday afternoon. Prestage had not answered an email requesting comment at the time of this story.

Contact Therese Apel at 601-961-7236 or tapel@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.