Seth Daniel Snook, 34, owner of Snook Brook Farms near Ferndale, faces five counts of first-degree animal cruelty, according to charges filed Friday in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Snook, according to the charges, said he couldn’t afford to feed the animals. When reached by phone Friday evening, he declined to comment on the charges, saying he hadn’t yet seen them.
“I honestly don’t think it would be in my best interest to comment on anything,” Snook said.
An animal control sergeant with the humane society began investigating Snook’s farm in late March after the U.S. Department of Agriculture expressed concern about the animals in a report, charges say.
Snook, according to the charges, said he knew the cows were “a couple hundred pounds underweight,” and that he was responsible. Investigators also found carcasses and skeletons of dead cows at the farm, charges say.
NEIGHBORS, DISGUSTED AT THE SUFFERING OF HIS ANIMALS TRIED TO HELP HIM -- HE REFUSED THEIR HELP AND CHOSE TO LET THE ANIMALS CONTINUE TO SUFFER AND DIE, ONE BY ONE
Snook had agreed to sell his cows and local dairy producers had offered to help feed and transport them, according to the charges, but he didn’t do so.
The five animal cruelty charges Snook faces are for these animals, according to the charges:
▪ A tan-and-white Guernsey breed calf that appeared lethargic and kept laying down
▪ A Jersey breed cow that also was lethargic and could not stay standing for long periods
▪ A Holstein breed heifer, or young cow, that looked “skeletal and sickly”
▪ A Jersey breed cow named Trixie, which had to be euthanized
▪ A dead cream-colored pig, which appeared to have starved to death after eating garbage and other dead animals
“The Whatcom Humane Society will continue to advocate for these animals and will do whatever we can to hold Mr. Snook responsible for his horrific crimes against these defenseless animals,” Clark said in an email.
The organization Dairy Farmers of Washington, in a statement Friday, condemned the farm’s conditions, saying they “in no way reflect the animal care practices of the hundreds of hard working dairy farm families throughout Washington or across our nation.”
Snook was not arrested, but a summons has been filed for him to appear in court in May.
Update:
- Washington: Seth Snook, who sells "artisan cheese" under the name Pleasant Valley Dairy, starved dozens of livestock animals to death. He was given a deal that will wipe his animal cruelty charges off his record; was also given his surviving livestock back so he can finish starving them to death
- Washington: Ferndale cow cruelty case against Seth Snook doomed by animal control missteps; farmer sues county
