Cattle neglect - 40 citations
Brady, NE (US)Incident Date: Monday, Dec 4, 2006
County: Lincoln
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Clyde McClellan
A 22-year-old Gothenburg man was cited with 40 counts of animal cruelty for not feeding and watering a herd of cattle in his care.
Clyde McClellan, who kept the cattle in a pasture near Brady, will face the misdemeanor criminal charges in Lincoln County Court January 19, 2007.
McClellan was cited after deputies received a complaint Dec. 4 that the cattle were in poor condition.
According to Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer, a man in a neighboring pasture had actually opened a gate and let the cattle into his pasture so they could graze.
The neighbor also supplied water for the cattle, Kramer said.
Kramer said the cattle were Holsteins and mostly bulls. He said they were underfed and seriously dehydrated. Several died in the neighbor's pasture and 12 of the cattle were found dead in the corral where McClellan kept them, just a few feet away from an empty self-feeder.
Kramer said the living cattle had little muscle or meat on their bodies.
According to Kramer, McCullen's father had told him to move the cattle from the pasture because their grass was gone and the pasture was starting to erode. But McCullen locked them in makeshift panel pens within the pasture instead.
Kramer said McClellan had taken the cattle on a share basis in May 2006. Geert Sikkenga from Heartwell was the owner of the cattle and McClellan was to feed and care for them.
Sikkenga learned of the investigation in early December and removed the cattle from the pasture near Brady, Kramer said. Sikkenga took the cattle to a Buffalo County feedlot so they could be nourished back to health.
Kramer said McClellan was cited with 10 counts, based on the cattle near Brady, and cited again for 30 head that were moved to Buffalo County after the investigation began.
Kramer said all the cattle would likely have died, had the neighbor not taken action. References
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