Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Judge orders farmer to pay $34K in cattle case

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - An Ada County rancher who pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and failure to properly dispose of animal carcasses has been sentenced to 10 years of probation.

A judge on Tuesday also ordered 73-year-old Hermis Sparks to pay $34,128 in restitution to state agencies that investigated and cared for the animals seized from his property in January.

Sparks was charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty after a raid on his farm outside Boise, where officials seized more than 260 cattle and found more than 40 cow carcasses.

Sparks pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty and four counts of failure to properly dispose of animal carcasses as part of an agreement with Ada County prosecutors..."  Link