Cohoctah Township farmer ordered to serve 15 in jail, 2 years probation and pay $19,000 in restitution.
A Livingston County man who was charged last year after 70 cows under his care were found dead was ordered Monday to serve about two weeks in jail and pay nearly $20,000 in restitution.
Keith Edwin Huck, Jr., 61, of Cohoctah Township was sentenced Monday by Livingston County District Court Judge L. Suzanne Geddis to 15 days in jail. In addition to $19,829 in restitution, he will not be allowed to own any animals during his two-year probationary term.
In a court hearing Oct. 25, Livingston County Animal Control Officer JD DeLaTorre said “70 deceased cows, five emaciated cows that were still alive and three emaciated pigs” were discovered in barns on two properties owned by Huck. The dead cows, he said, were in “various states of decay.” Officials also found an unkempt dog.
Huck pleaded guilty in December to one count each of abandoning an animal/failure to provide care, failure to bury a dead animal, and stray dog and unlicensed dog, all misdemeanor charges.
«No matter what, the condition of the animals was in such a state, I feel something should have been done and I think you feel something should have been done in hindsight, as well,» Geddis told Huck.
Huck responded, «Your honor, yes, I did the best I could.»
Livingston County Prosecutor Bill Vailliencourt said Monday that a 911 call was first placed Aug. 31 for an animal complaint. An investigation of two properties owned by Huck, one in the 4000 block of West Hayner, and the other about a half-mile away in Cohoctah Township, was then begun by Livingston County Animal Control.
Vailliencourt said a plea deal in the case was struck in order to get the surviving animals into proper care as quickly as possible.
«One of our critical concerns was to adopt these animals out promptly. We are grateful we could do that, otherwise it could have been a year to forfeit the animals,» he said. «That would not have been good. They would have been in custody of animal control, and that would have been a tremendous burden… We got the objective we were looking for, which was to hold the defendant accountable.»
Huck’s attorney Rebecca Roberts told Geddis Monday that Huck had been a farmer for 40 years, with no previous history of abandoning animals. She added that the cows that had been in his care had «shipping fever.» He had given them antibiotics, and they weren’t eating, she said. He bought the pigs in his care at a discount because «they weren’t doing well,» Roberts said.
«It’s illogical to say he left these animals on their own to die,» Roberts told Geddis. «This is how he makes his living… These are not pets, they are commercial animals. They don’t need to be friends with each other. They don’t need to have happy lives. They are cows. They get fattened up to sell meat.»
When asked by Geddis if he had anything he would like to say, Huck told the judge, «It’s just a big loss. It’s how I make a living.»
Huck and Roberts both declined comment after the hearing. Huck is scheduled to report to jail on Friday.
Dorothy Davies, director of Sanctuary and Safe Haven for Animals Farm in Manchester, called the sentence «a travesty.»
Davies is caring for the five cows and three pigs that were found alive. She said she still recalls the horrifying visit to the property, when she was stepping on bones of cows that she believes died of starvation — not the «shipping fever.»
«I’m glad it is over, but this is what happens? Nothing? I’ve been rescuing animals for 35 years and I’ve never seen anything this bad.»
The surviving cows and pigs are doing much better, although they may have long-term issues, Davies added. They will remain at the sanctuary for the rest of their lives.
