20080528 Maryland Department of Agriculture: Westminster Livestock Auction Operator Charged with Violations of Maryland Animal Health Law

Westminster Livestock Auction Operator Charged with Violations of Maryland Animal Health Law

CONTACT: Sue duPont 410-841-5889 Julie Oberg 410-841-5888

May 28, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 28, 2008) – The Maryland Department of Agriculture has charged the operator of the Westminster Livestock Auction Market, Mr. James Horak, with four counts of violating State Animal Health regulations. The charges are a result of an investigation into reported inhumane treatment of a non-ambulatory cow at the auction on April 22 and 23.

“After investigating this matter, the agency believes that the market was not was not prepared to handle downer animals that night and as a result a ‘downer’ cow was not treated in a humane manner,” said Agriculture Secretary Roger Richardson. “Mr. Horak has been charged with violating the State’s Animal Health Law.”

The violations are:

1.) two counts of failing to provide humane treatment [COMAR 15.11.17.03A] by improperly moving a downed animal and failing to euthanize in a timely manner an animal that was in obvious distress.

2) one count of failing to provide the needed equipment for handling, moving and if necessary euthanizing the animal [COMAR 15.11.17.03A].

3) one count of failing to euthanize the downed animal at the close of the sale or place her in the care of a licensed veterinarian on April 22 [COMAR 15.11.17.03C].

Mr. Horak has 15-days to respond to the charges. Persons charged in this manner under the Maryland Agriculture Law have a right to a hearing before an administrative law judge.

“Our goal is to ensure that an incident of the nature discovered on April 22 does not happen again,” said Maryland State Veterinarian Dr. Guy Hohenhaus. “The operator and his staff are cooperating fully with this investigation and have allowed us to close it quickly. This appears to be an unusual incident for the auction and the operator has already taken a number of steps to prevent such a situation from happening again.”

MDA has clear regulations governing the humane treatment of livestock at auction markets (COMAR 15.11.17) and each licensed market is provided a copy of the rules and protocols that they are required to follow. MDA has taken action to strengthen its penalties against anyone who violates state animal health laws and regulations.

House Bill 227, proposed by MDA and passed by the 2008 General Assembly, gives the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to issue administrative penalties (fines) of up to $10,000 in cases where these laws and regulations are broken. This law goes into affect on Oct. 1, 2008. In addition, MDA is currently reviewing its livestock market and dealer regulations to determine what actions are needed to strengthen them.

Specifically in response to the Westminster Livestock Auction Market situation, MDA has reviewed and revised its protocols for inspectors at livestock auctions to include: reporting and tracking downed animals; officially informing the livestock auction management of action that must be taken; and following up the day after a sale to make sure that the appropriate disposition of any downed animals has taken place.

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