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Lambs kicked and dragged
Lemoore, CA (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Jan 21, 2012
County: Kings
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Dario Alvino Yachachin
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Kings County Sheriff's Deputies have arrested a man accused of abusing baby lambs.
According to investigators, neighbors said they videotaped 34-year-old Dario Yachachin abusing the animals.
They say he was kicking, hitting, dragging and flinging the baby lambs into the air.
Over the weekend, deputies showed up at the farm where Yachachin works as a sheep herder and found several dead lambs in an alfalfa field.
The farm is located at 17th Avenue and Hanford-Armona road, just outside of Lemoore.
Deputies say Yachachin was brought in from Peru on a work visa, and his boss told deputies he wasn't trained to mistreat the animals.
Yachachin was arrested and booked into the Kings County Jail on 10 counts of animal abuse. His bail has been set at $250,000.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the sheriff's office at (559) 852-2720.
Case UpdatesThe Peruvian immigrant accused of beating baby lambs to death has pleaded guilty to three counts of animal cruelty, authorities said Wednesday.
Dario Yachachin, 34, now faces a maximum sentence of four years and four months in prison for killing 10 sheep he'd been hired to care for.
Chief Deputy District Attorney James Jahn said that Yachachin willingly pleaded guilty to the charges without the need for a plea agreement. Yachachin will be formally sentenced on March 14.
It was a diligent neighbor who first brought the case to light in late January. Terry Joe Inman videotaped the suspect "kicking, hitting, dragging and flinging the lambs into the air," according to the Kings County Sheriff's Office, and notified law enforcement.
When deputies and animal services officers were called to the scene on Jan. 21, they found 10 baby lambs bloody and beaten so badly they could barely walk, Assistant Sheriff Dave Putnam said.
The video showed several instances over "a period of days" where Yachachin regularly abused the animals.
Under questioning, he claimed this kind of treatment was "common" in his culture and said the animals were "weak" and would have "died anyway" because of exposure.
"He described it like it was survival of the fittest," Putnam said.
Property owner Jean Etchebehere told investigators that he was unaware of what had transpired with his herd of sheep. He said Yachachin had been hired by an outside contractor and had few problems with the man while he lived in a trailer on the property near 17th Avenue and Hanford-Armona Road.
Yachachin was ultimately arrested and charged with 10 counts of animal abuse, but only pleaded guilty to three.
He remains in custody on $250,000 bail at the Kings County Jail until his sentencing. | Source: hanfordsentinel.com - Mar 1, 2012
Update posted on Mar 1, 2012 - 10:16PM |
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