Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 24, 1992 TAG: 9203240379
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
A related nuisance charge for letting the dead animals decay for several days after being ordered to remove them from the pasture was dropped against the man, Joseph Abbott, 53.
Abbott had brought about 175 sheep to the leased three-acre site located on U.S. 460 just past the Blue Ridge Parkway in September, where they remained until they started dying three months later.
Botetourt Animal Control Officer Gary Johnson said 27 of the sheep eventually died, most from starvation or complications, such as disease or parasites, due to malnutrition. There was no grass left on the land at the time and no other food supplies.
Abbott, who runs the Valley View Pancake House on Williamson Road, Roanoke, was ordered to remove the dead sheep and bury them, as required under county law.
A week elapsed, however, before he complied, and then the dead animals were found dumped off an old logging road a few miles away. County workers had to remove the sheep and bury them in the county landfill.
Abbott was cited for failing to properly bury the animals, but that charge was dropped earlier after he reimbursed the county about $275 to cover the cost of disposing of the sheep.
by CNB