Times Herald
SPEAKER TWP. - Several sheep and goats haven't stopped eating since they arrived Monday afternoon at Lin and Chuck Ernest's farm.
They devoured hay tossed into their pen Tuesday afternoon and munched on their bedding when the hay was gone.
Some of the sheep were missing wool on their backs, making their bones visible beneath their bare skin.
Most of the goats are skinny, but Lin Ernest was most concerned with the littlest one. It had been lying beneath its shelter and wobbles when it walks. The bigger animals push it from the feed.
"The stronger ones will butt and smash (the littler ones)," Ernest said. "For some reason in the animal kingdom they get rid of the weak. These must have been the strongest ones."
The livestock were among about 45 malnourished animals seized Monday from a farm at 3450 E. Marlette Road in Buel Township. Deputies from the Sanilac County Sheriff Department and officials from the county's animal control office buried another 33 animals found dead on the property. The animals included a horse, a steer, pigs, rabbits, dogs, an exotic bird, iguanas, ducks, chickens and geese.
As volunteers who rescued the living animals began nursing them back to health Tuesday, police and other officials continued to assess the conditions in which they were living.
The animals' 21-year-old owner, who lives at the farm, will not be criminally charged until the police investigation is complete, the sheriff department said. The man, whose name has not been released, was arrested Monday but posted 10% of a $10,000 bond and was released from the Sanilac County Jail until he is arraigned.
The man, who told police on Monday he had been too busy partying to feed the animals, declined a request for an interview Tuesday at his home. The Times Heraldhas filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the jail's booking records.
A 42-year-old female who lives at the farm also is expected to face charges, although she has not been arrested.
Officials said conditions at the farm were the worst they have ever seen. Some of the pigs were eating their babies and other dead animals for food. Others were outside in a muddy pasture with little shelter.
Large-scale neglect of farm animals is rare, said Randall Lockwood, a senior vice president with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
"Clearly we see this as a serious case (with), just the number of animals involved and the degree of suffering they clearly endured," he said.
Silently dying
Police said no one had complained about conditions on the farm until the anonymous tip that led to Monday's seizure.
Sanilac County Animal Control was called to the area, where distances are measured by miles rather than city blocks, for a loose horse complaint in September.
Animal Control Director Jim Matson said he responded to the complaint but the owner already had caught the horse when he arrived.
Matson saw the animal in the driveway of the East Marlette Road farm and noticed it was a little thin. But the horse was not nearly as malnourished as when it was rescued Monday.
"I told (the owner) that going into the winter older horses need a lot more food to make it through the winter," Matson said.
The horse, which volunteers call Echo, has been placed at a nearby farm. Volunteers estimate it is about 20 years old and about 200 pounds underweight.
Matson said he responds to between 100 and 150 calls each year but few are for cases of severe neglect.
"I've been doing this for 17 years. It's the worst ... by far," he said.
Stephanie Baron of the Michigan Humane Society said Monday's seizure was large, but she did not know how it compared to other cases in the state.
The Michigan Humane Society only investigates cases in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park. Baron said there is no statewide agency that keeps statistics about animal cruelty.
Criminal charges
Police said it could be at least a week before prosecutors determine what criminal charges the Buel Township man and the woman living at the residence will face. Arraignment dates have not been set.
Criminal charges for animal abuse in Michigan range from a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail for a first offense to a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
Sanilac sheriff Lt. Jim Wagester said Sanilac County Prosecutor James V. Young will determine if the county will pursue misdemeanor or felony charges against the pair. Young could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
Although it could be considered the man's first offense, prosecutors could make the case that the animals were abused and neglected multiple times, said Randall Lockwood, a psychologist and a senior vice president with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Washington, D.C.
"This is one of the frustrating things about many cruelty laws," Lockwood said. "The animals suffer more than if they were brutally killed or maimed in an act of torture. Their suffering is very long term. Philosophically, we could argue that starvation could constitute torture."
Rebuilding
The animals, which belong to the county until the outcome of a criminal trial, have been sent to six or seven area farms, Matson said.
After a trial, a judge and prosecutor will determine where the animals should be placed, police said.
A veterinarian will assess the animals' conditions in upcoming days, Wagester said. The information will be used to help prosecutors determine what type of charges to seek.
The assessment also will determine if some of the animals are so sick they need to be euthanized, Wagester said.
Lin Ernest, who took in 10 animals, wouldn't mind keeping some of them.
"I surely have to find homes for most of them, but I'd like to keep a few," Ernest said.
The county does not currently need foster homes for the animals, Matson said, but people who want to volunteer in the future can help by signing up to care for other animals.
Reference:thetimesherald
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