Gallatin County residents arrested for animal cruelty, leaving 11 animals malnourished

GALLATIN COUNTY, Mont. – Two Gallatin County residents were arrested for aggravated animal cruelty after an investigation found eleven severely underweight and underfed animals at their properties.

The investigation started on April 23, when the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office received a report that a malnourished cow had broken through a neighbors fence line, according to Deputy Sheriff Karl Freml as written in court documents.

Freml said he worked with Animal Control and saw pictures of the cow. He said the cow had ribs, hip and back bones showing through its hide and that it seemed to be 200-300 pounds underweight.

Freml said Animal Control officer Greydanus spoke to the cow’s owner, who said it last ate hay two days prior. Greydanus told Freml that there was no grass on the suspect’s 10-acre property for natural grazing.

Freml went to observe the property days later and also observed no grass and no water available for livestock on the property, and that horses were picking in dirt and weeds.

He added that one of the horses had “hipbones sticking out from apparent lack of muscle.”

Freml acquired a search warrant and visited the property on Wednesday with Greydanus and a veterinarian. His first action was to detain the property owners.

The three officials searched the property and found 11 dogs, one cat, eight horses, two donkeys and eight birds. They also found carcasses of a horse, a dog and a cow.

They also examined the property itself, which Freml said was “grazed down to the dirt.” He said there were four round bales of straw, which are not for consumption for livestock because it is not hay and has no nutritional value.

“The living conditions were abysmal: wire, trash, including batteries, tools, and random construction supplies were exposed to all the animals throughout the property,” Freml wrote in court documents.

Freml said the property owners told him the animals had never seen a vet, but that the horses had been serviced by a farrier within the last year.

Freml followed the property owner’s statement about the horses' hooves with his own observation: “their hooves showed that this is untrue.”

The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office released a statement on Friday saying that the livestock were gathered and transported to safe locations with help from the Bozeman and Belgrade Police Departments. The animals will receive “appropriate nutrition and veterinary care” at the new locations, the sheriff’s office said.

The property owners were arrested and brought to Gallatin County Detention Center to be held without bond pending a judge’s appearance, according to court documents.

One of the property owners received one count of aggravated animal cruelty and the other received eleven counts of the same. The second property owner received more counts because they had a previous animal cruelty charge from 2012, making each subsequent count a felony.