Judge overturned original charges of first-degree criminal mischief, two counts of livestock neglect, 10-year prison jail sentence and $1,370 fine.
Not actual victim of this litigation. Dying Piglet image from
Shutterstock
In June, the decomposing bodies of more than 1,000 sentient pigs
were discovered at two facilities in Sac County, Iowa, where they
had been abandoned and left to die slowly of hunger and thirst. The
person responsible was arrested and charged, but unbelievably isn’t
facing any consequences that anywhere meet the severity of this
heartbreaking crime.
Elana Laber, who was responsible for overseeing these facilities,
was arrested after the Sac County Sheriff’s Office received
complaints about dead pigs. The deputies who investigated discovered
that power had been turned off at both sites and that there were
pigs there who were dead and decomposing.
Laber initially claimed someone had shut the breakers off the night
before, but a veterinarian determined they had been dead for at
least a week.
Laber was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal mischief
and two counts of livestock neglect and faced up to 10 years in jail
for each count of criminal mischief and up to one year for neglect.
More than 16,000 In Defense of Animals supporters spoke out on their
behalf, urging Sac County Attorney Ben Smith to seek the maximum
prosecution.
She pleaded guilty to the charges in September in a plea deal that
reduced each of the charges to one count. She was sentenced to 10
years in prison on one count of criminal mischief and three years of
probation after that. She was also fined $1,370.
However, in a deeply disappointing move, on November 21, Sac County
District Judge Derek Johnson dismissed charges of first-degree
felony criminal mischief, suspended the 10-year prison sentence,
suspended the small fine, and placed Laber on probation for just
three years.
What happened to those pigs was a terrible, unimaginable tragedy
that could have, and should have, been prevented — and would have
caused much wider outrage had they been animal companions like dogs
or cats. Sadly, farmed animals typically receive neither the respect
nor the protection that other animals do, and instead unjustly
suffer horrific abuses on a daily basis.
Hopefully, this tragic story will help more people consider the
lives of farmed animals, and make compassionate choices by leaving
them off of their plates.