Recently I read that the governor of Mississippi had initiated a campaign to improve the state’s image, pointing out that Mississippi actually ranks higher than people believe in areas such as charitable giving and education.

This won’t help.

Kevin Pugh, of Cedar Bluff, Mississippi, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a charge of disturbing the peace, which he had done in November by tossing a pig over the counter at a Holiday Inn Express in the city of West Point. (I’m not sure I improved on the original headline, "Man Fined for Tossing Pig at Hotel," but I didn’t want to steal it.) Police said that Pugh did not appear to have any grievance with the hotel, did not know any of the employees, and (for once in these stories) alcohol did not appear to be a factor. "He said it was a prank," said Lt. Danny McCaskill. "It must be some redneck thing, because I haven’t ever heard of anything like it."

He’s heard of it since then, though. He told the Associated Press that there have been three other animal-tossing incidents in West Point, all involving local businesses and all happening between 2 and 4 a.m. Of the four incidents, two involved pigs, two involved opossums, and two involved Kevin Pugh. Pugh will appear in court on December 19th to defend against a second animal-throwing charge, this one involving an unidentified animal thrown at a Hardee’s restaurant. Pugh has pleaded innocent to that charge, and I look forward to hearing his defense. Maybe that pig wanted revenge against Hardee’s for serving bacon, and police just rounded up the usual suspect.

McCaskill said that neither the pig nor any of the Holiday Inn employees were injured in the November assault. Casualty figures for the other incidents are not yet available.

Link: AP via SFGate.com