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Throughout his life, Michael Davis displayed those qualities, and was able to use them when needed most.

Davis was born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky to a military family. As a child, he moved around many times, but since they had relatives in Hawkins County, his family moved there when his father was out of the military. 

Davis was always interested in joining the military or going into law enforcement. So, he decided to do both. 

He joined the Army as a mechanic for six and a half years. While serving, he was deployed once to Afghanistan. After falling from a truck and herniating a disc in his back, Davis was medically retired and returned to Hawkins County. 

When Davis put his application to the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office, Officer Austin McGinnis who knew Davis from high school, was working at the jail and saw the application.

“I told the lieutenant who was doing all the hiring [that] he’d make a great officer, and put him on my shift and it would make a great team,� McGinnis said. “He got hired in, they put him on my shift, and he had it down pat within a week of training.�

Although Davis and McGinnis lost touch while he was in the army, Davis’ character in high school was enough for McGinnis to want to work with him. 

“He was always honest; he wouldn’t sugarcoat stuff,� McGinnis said. “If he didn’t agree with something, he’d voice his opinion on it.� 

He said Davis was generous with his time, and before Davis had a child, they would hang out often.

“He’s a great guy; he would do anything in the world for anybody,� McGinnis added. 

Davis has his own reasons for joining law enforcement. 

“Just a lot of my family was in and out of jail, not doing the best things,� Davis said. “And when you see people actually go through a lot of that stuff, [it] makes you want to actually be able to help people put actual criminals away.� 

Davis was a corrections officer in the jail before becoming a patrol deputy on March 16 of this year. He said his days range from traffic stops, animal complaints, attempted murder investigations, drug crimes and more. 

“There’s no typical day,� he said. “I’ve had days where I don’t get a single call, and I’ve had days where I don’t stop moving the entire time.� 

In late August, Davis received a call alleging animal abuse on O’Brien Lane in Rogersville. What he saw was worse than he could have imagined. 

“I got told it was going to be rough,� Davis said. “I didn’t expect anything like that.� 

Davis arrived on the property and saw many neglected Great Pyrenees dogs, along with pit bulls, horses, sheep and roosters. One dog was locked in a cage in a bedroom of the house; it lay moaning in its own blood, feces and bacteria.

“I have successfully prosecuted people on aggravated animal abuse before,� Davis said. “But it’s always just been a count here, two counts here — nothing like what we had over there.� 

Although the owner refused to give up her animals, even after seeing a photograph of her dying dog, Davis pursued the case until the judge gave the Hawkins County Humane Society permission to rescue the animals. 

“Deputy Davis was amazing,� said Jackie Catterson, humane society director’s assistant. “He went above and beyond. I mean, he was working all kinds of hours on this — off the clock. And he refused to back down.� 

McGinnis, who has been an officer longer than Davis, said he has never dealt with that level of animal abuse, and cannot remember a case that has.

When counted, there were over 20 dogs in the property and around 70 sheep. Another dead dog was found in a barn, and dead sheep were in the field. The agricultural department scored the sheep’s health very low, and many dogs had lacerations from fighting over food. They were all ungroomed.

“He [Davis] done a lot more investigation into it than a regular patrol officer would usually do, due to call volume and everything,� McGinnis said. “He took this one to heart and he wanted to follow it all the way through.�

Although the dog in the crate died soon after the shelter arrived on the property, the humane society successfully found foster homes for many of the others, along with providing food and water to the near 100 animals found on the property. 

“Officers like him are a real blessing,� Catterson said. “Because they really, genuinely care and they don’t want to see this kind of abuse continue.� 

Davis said he has animals of his own, which makes this case close to his heart. 

“It’s literally my job to enforce the law. So making sure that those animals got into homes that they needed to be in, where they were protected, taken care of, had food, water and shelter … to me that was important,� Davis said. “They can’t go into court and tell the judge, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on.’ They can’t file a report. That’s our job to make sure that they’re taken care of.� 

Davis first charged the defendant with 26 counts of animal cruelty, and one count of aggravated animal cruelty. In an email, Humane Society Director Sandy Behnke stated that the defendant now faces five aggravated animal cruelty charges, one animal running at large charge and 106 animal cruelty charges. 

Making a difference is what keeps him going, Davis said, even in the face of difficult cases.

“Just helping people. It’s not a job like anything else, it’s nothing like being in the military. You’re affecting your community at this point,� he said. “So as long as you do your job right, the way you’re supposed to, then you can really change people’s lives.�