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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Rancher Charged With Animal Cruelty Posse Rounded Up Livestock

The owner of a ranch near Potlatch, Idaho, faces animal cruelty charges after dozens of animals were rounded up by a sheriff’s posse and removed from his ranch.

Terry Walser has been charged with a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty for not providing proper care and sustenance for the 47 cows, five horses and 25 hogs taken from his farm three miles southwest of Potlatch.

The Latah County Mounted Sheriff’s Posse rounded up the livestock Sunday morning. The animals were loaded onto trucks and trailers and hauled to the Lewiston Livestock Market, where they will remain until the court approves their return or sale.

Walser, who was on probation from a prior animal neglect case, failed to comply with terms requiring him to bury 20 cattle that had died the previous winter, said P.J. Walker with the Idaho Department of Agriculture. Eight more cattle perished this winter, some as recently as last week, and were left to rot in a field adjacent to Walser’s farm, Walker said.

“There were dead hogs in the barn, too. He had them all stacked up in there,” Walker said.

One boar and one calf had to be euthanized on site, but most of the animals are expected to recover from malnutrition and parasite infections.

Idaho law allows animals to be impounded for safekeeping if a licensed veterinarian attests to their poor health. Walker, a Lewiston veterinarian and a state brand inspector joined the mounted posse at the roundup Sunday. The horse posse is a voluntary arm of the Sheriff’s Department, similar to search and rescue.

Lewiston Livestock Market manager Dick Bickford said that while there are more thin cattle this year due to increased hay prices and a dry summer, these cows arrived exceptionally malnourished.

“I wouldn’t say that one or two of them wouldn’t die. They are definitely underfed,” Bickford said.

A Lewiston veterinarian wormed and deloused the livestock, which also are being treated for internal parasites.

“We don’t get a lot of these cases, thank God for that, but we do get about one a year,” Bickford said. “It’s kind of a service that we are expected to do.”

Walser is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for his alleged probation violation and again next Monday on the most recent animal cruelty charge, according to Latah County Prosecutor William W. Thompson Jr.

If convicted, Walser could face a sentence of six months in jail and $5,000 in fines.

, DataTimes