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Saturday, April 30, 2005

Dumped Cattle Carcasses Increase in Curry

The Associated Press
    CLOVIS— The Curry County sheriff says the area is seeing an increasing number of cattle carcasses dumped on the rights of way of roads and highways.
    "It's mostly Holsteins and it's mostly calves," said Sheriff Roger Hatcher.
    He predicts the problem will get worse with the growing dairy and cattle industry.
    New Mexico law requires livestock owners to dispose of dead animals by burning, burying or contracting with a removal service.
    Hatcher has asked the Curry County Commission to toughen the fines for illegally dumping dead livestock.
    People caught dumping face fines under state law that range from $500 to $1,000. However, Hatcher said only an additional county ordinance would give him what he needs to fight the problem.
    State Transportation Department patrol officer Dewayne Freeman and Garth Merrick, who owns a company that removes and processes livestock carcasses, say rising fuel prices are to blame for the growing problem of dumping.
    Merrick said his company began charging $25 last month to pick up dead livestock— a service it used to provide for free. The company has picked up dead horses, hogs and cattle for 37 years.
    "With fuel prices going up and up and up, we simply had to start charging," he said.
    But Hatcher said the problem isn't fuel prices— it's a blatant disregard for the law.
    Identifying marks, such as ear tags, are often missing from the dumped carcasses, he said.
    "People are doing this at night. They know it is wrong," he said.