Controversy Arises As Authorities Investigate Animal Carcasses In Greeley
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) -- Weld County and state of Colorado officials called to a property on the northeast side of Greeley last week discovered at seven dead and decomposing animals inside the livestock pens. Due to the acceptable health conditions of the animals that were still alive, officials took no action against the animals' owner.
That doesn't sit well with many who have seen the photos.
Floss Blackburn, the executive director of the Denkai Animal Sanctuary, posted the photos on Facebook.
"These animals are not receiving proper care," she wrote in a plea to investigators.
Joseph Moylan, a spokesman for the Weld County Sheriff's Office, said animal control officers visited the property "multiple times" last week. Friday, they were joined by representatives from the county's health department and planning and zoning department.
A state-employed field veterinarian evaluated the more than two dozen living animals and concluded their health to be adequate. That veterinarian also determined that securing the most recently deceased animal - a goat that died approximately two weeks ago - for a necropsy would not produce effective results due to the length of time that had lapsed since its passing.
Together, authorities found no legal reason to cite the owner of the animals or seize control of them, despite the low level of care.
"There are no grounds for criminal action at this point," Moylan told CBS4.
He said it was determined the living animals had been provided with the basics of food, water, and shelter.
"There is nothing in the statutes about keeping an enclosure clean," he said. "Or having to remove dead animals from the presence of the live ones."
The owner of the animals was cooperative, Moylan said, but was unwilling to release the carcasses. Authorities decided against using a warrant to obtain them.
Moylan said a number of concerned citizens showed up at the property insisting on taking the animals into their care. The sheriff's office would not allow that. In fact, in a Facebook post, WCSO warned citizens that they would be arrested and prosecuted for taking any.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Animal Protection, a division of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, said the agency was aware of the investigation, but the bureau and the state veterinarian would abide by established inter-agency protocol and not become involved until local authorities requested it.
The spokesperson provided a statement:
"The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) provides subject matter expertise whenever local law enforcement requests assistance with investigations into reports of animal neglect, mistreatment, abandonment, or cruelty. CDA does not have any regulatory authority concerning carcass disposal and burial."
Meanwhile, Colorado First Gentleman Marlon Reis, an avowed animal welfare activist, posted on Facebook Friday night about the investigation, "When survival is the only standard of care required, it is legal for people who own 'food' animals to do the absolute minimum just to keep them alive," he wrote. "I hope this story will inspire one of our State Representatives or State Senators to introduce legislation that will enshrine higher standards of care for animals raised for food. Survival alone isn't life at all."
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