A cattle rancher from B.C.'s Cariboo region is facing criminal charges after SPCA investigators say they discovered his farm littered with dead and starving animals.
McLeese Lake-area farmer Rob Weetman has been charged with causing unnecessary pain and suffering and failing to provide necessaries for an animal under the criminal code, and well as causing an animal to be in distress under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
The BC SPCA says that of Weetman's 170 cattle, almost 40 have starved to death and the rest are "severely" emaciated. When animal cruelty investigators and RCMP visited the ranch this year, they say they found piles of dead cows and a stillborn calf lying in a creek that the cattle use for drinking water.
"We found dead cattle strewn around the ranch, as well as cows so starved their hips, backs and ribs were protruding. Some of the animals were dehydrated because they couldn't get to a nearby creek to drink because Weetman had neglected to clear a path in the snow," SPCA Special Const. Kent Kokoska said in a release.
"This is one of the saddest cases of animal neglect we've seen in this area."
Necropsies on three dead animals revealed that their fat stores had been completely depleted.
Animal cruelty investigators say Weetman repeatedly ignored recommendations on how to care for and feed his animals.
Weetman is scheduled to appear in court in Williams Lake on Aug. 24. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail, a $10,000 fine and a lifetime ban on owning animals.
