Animal cruelty officers to investigate whether 200 Sask. cattle died from neglect

Animal protection officers have begun their investigation into whether 200 cattle died in southwestern Saskatchewan due to neglect.

• Ranchers facing $300Kloss

An officer is visiting the pasture near Shamrock, Sask., on Tuesday, still littered with rotting carcasses, to interview anyone who was responsible for caring for the livestock.

Did they fail in their duty to provide adequate food, water, shelter and care?- Kaley Pugh, Animal Protection Services

"The question we'll be trying to answer is: was there neglect on the part of the people that were caring for the animals?" said KaleyPugh, executive director of Animal Protection Services ofSaskatchewan.

"Did they fail in their duty to provide adequate food, water, shelter and care? Or was this just an unfortunate circumstance that really couldn't have been prevented and really could have happened to anybody?"

More than 200 calves and cows were discovered dead on Friday in a government-owned pasture leased by the Shamrock Grazing company. More than 30 ranchers are shareholders in the company and pay a fee for it to manage their livestock's access to food and water over the summer.

GlennStraub, president of Shamrock Grazing Ltd., is adamant there was no neglect of the cattle. He defends the placement of the animals in the pasture, their access to water, and their supervision.

The herd was moved to a new pasture on July 1, checked the following day, then discovered dead on July 7.

RCMP received the initial complaintand will assist Animal Protection Services in its investigation. The group is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture andis strictly focused on animal cruelty cases.

On Monday, the province's chief veterinarian, Betty Althouse, said initial test results show the cattle died from dehydration and salt poisoning. Officials believe soaring temperatures last week led to evaporation in the cattle's groundwater supply, and that meant a higher concentration of salt in the water.

"An analogy would be somebody shipwrecked on the ocean," Althouse said."We may be thirsty and craving the water, andwe'll drink the ocean water, but it will kill you to drink salt water. It's the same thing with the animals."

Like losing family

Straub, the grazing company president, got choked up as he spoke to CBC News at the pasture site on Tuesday. He described how difficult it's been to see dead and suffering animals and smell the decomposing carcasses.

He said he's focused on caring for the survivingbut weakanimalsand supporting the ranchers.

The AgricultureMinistry estimates that farmers are collectively facing $300,000 in financial loss.

"To these cattlemen, it's almost like losing their family," Straub said.

Russ Coward, who had cattle die in the pasture, doesn't blame anyone for the deaths.He calls it a "tragedy" that has made the community band together.

"We're doing as well as we can. We're working with our friends and neighbours," Coward said. He added that he would place his cattle in the same pasture again next year.

Unprecedented case

Pughexpects this to be a complex case. Animal Protection Services is more familiar with cases that involvelivestock owners who simply fail to provide water to their animals.

"I've never seen a case exactly like this ... where theactual quality of the water is in question, and the quality of water that was changing over time," Pughsaid.

Animal Protection Serviceswill refer to the National Farm Animal Care Council's code of practice to determine the appropriate standards of care, such as how often the person responsible should check their animals for distress.

Animal Protection Services will also co-ordinate with RCMP and prosecutors to determine whether charges should be laid under either the Animal Protection Act or the Criminal Code.

• MORE SASKATCHEWAN NEWS |Torrential rain, golf ball-sized hail slams Sask. in major storm
• MORE SASKATCHEWAN NEWS |How much is too much?: Saskatchewan bars respond to SGI over-serving lawsuit