Door sabotage uitgeschakelde ventilatoren in varkenshouderij Rock Rapids (VS) leidt tot 4000 dode, gestikte, varkens....

Sabotage at farm kills 4,000 pigs; loss is $200,000

17-11-2009 By LARRY BALLARD • lballard@dmreg.com • Des Moines Register, USA


Todd Hasche knew he had a problem the second he stepped out of his pickup truck. "It was silent," the Rock Rapids hog farmer said. "There are usually fans running and other noises."

The fans are part of an air-circulation system that swine nursery operators know is critical to the health of their animals. No noise meant no fans. No fans meant no fresh air. No fresh air meant Hasche knew what he would find inside the two confinement buildings: nearly 4,000 dead pigs worth an estimated $200,000.

"The alarms and backup generator had been disabled. They probably died in less than an hour," Hasche said Monday, two days after he and more than a dozen friends and neighbors worked to remove the carcasses, each of which weighed about 55 pounds. "Whoever did it had to know their way around a pig barn, and they wanted to impose some damage."

Sioux County sheriff's investigators said Monday that they had little to go on.
"It was a pretty terrible thing to see," Deputy Jim Landau said. "We looked in and there they were. Snout to snout. It looked like it got the runts first, the little ones who don't grow as fast."

Hasche, who operates four farms in the region with about 12,000 hogs, fed the sabotaged pigs for Sioux Feed Co. in Sioux Center. The animals were destined for another facility, where they would have been fattened for market. The pigs were insured.

"More than likely it was me who was the target," Hasche said. "I hope they catch the sucker."

Landau said the culprit faces a host of burglary, criminal mischief and animal cruelty charges.

(Bron: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/)