Located on the de facto border between West and Middle Tennessee is Camden, the county seat of Benton County, Tennessee.
Located right next to the Tennessee River, Benton County is a popular duck hunting site for Kentuckians, Tennesseeans, and even those from further afield.
The notion that hunters should aim to kill animals as humanely as possible is one that is widely held. something that the duck hunters of Camden have in common.
Even while hunting is fairly common in Camden, it’s clear that not all residents share the same humane beliefs.
Late last week, the Benton County Sheriff Department arrested Cody Shay Townsend, a resident of Camden, Tennessee, on charges of animal cruelty, trespassing, and burglary.
Townsend told the officer who answered calls from bystanders that he was on a “mission from God … to kill all things evil,” according to the Benton County Sheriff Department.
It’s unclear if Townsend was under the effect of psychoactive chemicals, has a mental illness that generates grandiose thinking, paranoia, and psychosis, or both.
But according to the Benton County Sheriff Department, some people who use stimulants—specifically, methamphetamine—for days at a time can occasionally experience psychosis to the degree that Townsend was probably going through due to a combination of sleep deprivation and the hallucinogenic effects of amphetamine and methamphetamine binges.
The Benton County Sheriff Department is presently holding Cody Townsend on a $25,000 bail.
Since his arrest last week, county officials have placed him in jail.
The incident began when Townsend entered a neighbor’s yard where a stump was being burned, according to eyewitness accounts of his actions.
Townsend proceeded to fully immerse the neighbor’s dog in gasoline using the neighbor’s fuel can.
The dog was then lifted by Townsend and thrown upon the neighbor’s blazing stump.
