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| News from Around the Farm World |
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Owner of starved horses charged with animal cruelty</p><p>
MONTICELLO, Ill. (AP) — The owner of three horses that died of starvation in central Illinois has been charged with animal cruelty.
Richard Pagel of Mansfield has been released on $500 bond. Piatt County officials say he was also charged with failure to properly dispose of dead animals.</p><p>
Pagel was arrested Thursday. Illinois Department of Agriculture investigators found the horses on Pagel’s farm on Dec. 26. A phone number listed in Pagel’s name has been disconnected.
A fourth horse is still alive and is being cared for by volunteers at a horse rescue farm.</p><p>
6 horses killed in Kentucky fire</p><p>
HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) — A fire at a barn in western Kentucky killed six horses, though rescuers were able to save 19 from the blaze.
The fire at the former Riverside Downs in Henderson was extinguished by Friday evening. State police are investigating the fire, but said they don’t suspect arson.</p><p>
Roy Parcher, who works in a barn near the fire, helped rescue some of the horses. He said he could hear horses screaming as he and another employee ran into the barn to try to get to the animals.
The horses were being kept at the stable after Ellis Park closed for training, the Henderson Gleaner reported. It was the third fire in just over four years at the property. A fire in December 2003 killed 22 horses in a barn at the nearby boarding and training facility. The cause of that fire was determined to be electrical.</p><p>
Man dies after car hit farm tractor near Springville</p><p>
SPRINGVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A man has died after his car struck a farm tractor hauling hay.</p><p>
Officials with the Linn County Sheriff’s office say a car driven by John P. Wilch of Mount Vernon struck the tractor from behind on Dec. 31 near Springville. Wilch was taken to University Hospitals in Iowa City, where he later died.</p><p>
The driver of the tractor, Richard J. Kepros, of rural Springville, wasn’t injured.</p><p>
The investigation is continuing.</p><p>
Iowa man dies in farm accident</p><p>
MARTELLE, Iowa (AP) — A man died after a large hay bale fell on him at his rural Martelle farm, officials said.</p><p>
Ronald Parker, 60, was using a tractor to move large round hay bales on Dec. 29 when one of the bales fell on the driver’s area of the tractor, pinning him, officials with the Jones County Sheriff’s office said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.</p><p>
Livestock auction barn burns</p><p>
FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A large livestock auction barn in Fayetteville has been destroyed by fire.</p><p>
The Tennessee Livestock Producers Assoc. owned the barn, which was used for weekly livestock auctions as well as order buying; the association is owned by the Tennessee Farm Bureau.</p><p>
Farm Bureau spokesman Pettus Read in Columbia said Jan. 2 the cause of the blaze wasn’t immediately known. There were no reports of injury and no immediate indication that any animals were lost in the fire the previous night.</p><p>
Read said the association had cleared land for a new barn, but construction is not yet underway. </p><p>
The association also owns an auction barn in Spring Hill.</p><p>
Michigan Ag abandons most pet shop inspections</p><p>
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The state Department of Agriculture is abandoning most inspections of pet shops unless complaints involve serious abuse or disease outbreaks.</p><p>
The department says it must shift the focus to monitoring deer and cattle populations for contagious diseases such as tuberculosis. A shrinking budget is compounding the problem, the Detroit Free Press reported.</p><p>
“In a perfect world, it wouldn’t be this way,” said State Veterinarian Steven Halstead, who works for the department. “I have concerns that by not having the presence that we should, animals will suffer.”</p><p>
In regulating pet shops, Michigan requires cages to be large enough for animals to stand and move around. Sick animals must get immediate medical attention. And animals must have adequate water and food.</p><p>
Even before the state decided to stop inspections, the newspaper said it had begun reducing unannounced visits. Most pet shops weren’t inspected for years, the newspaper said records from 2002-07 show.</p><p>
In one case, more than 30 people complained to the state this year about Pollywood Pets, located inside the Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens. Among the complaints: 20 kittens in a pen. Pollywood Pets owner Shelly Myers, who has operated the store since 1991, said conditions are improving, but wouldn’t elaborate.</p><p>
“It has been a learning curve for me,” she said. “All we can do is improve our services. I take what I do seriously. It’s hard work.” |
| 1/10/2008 |
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