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More than 30 hogs were brutally injured and maimed when someone set them loose from a Story County farm and ran them down with a vehicle last weekend.
Capt. Barry Thomas, chief deputy of the Story County Sheriff’s Office, told Iowa Independent that someone went to the Struthers family farm near Collins and — under the cover of darkness — released hundreds of hogs from their enclosures, then began running over them with a car or truck.
“The initial report that we took on Monday indicated that there were 15 hogs that were either dead or injured after someone released the hogs and began running into or over them with a vehicle.”
Thomas said that investigators know no motive and have no suspects at this time. “We are currently pursuing several leads, and our investigation continues,” he said.
Eric Finch, who is a caretaker of the hogs at the farm, said he made the discovery on Sunday when he arrived at the farm to do chores. When he arrived he found approximately 500 hogs had been turned loose. “These pigs are all raised in large-pen, deep-bedded hoop buildings, so there’s just one gate per building and they’ll run right outside if you open that gate,” he said.
“We immediately started rounding them up. They were in the road, across the road, behind the building. They were kind of strung everywhere,” said Finch. “And then we found when we were putting them back that the latches had been misplaced in a manner that it was evident that it was humans that had opened the gates. That’s when we called the sheriff’s department.”
When a deputy arrived they followed the tire tracks and made the first of several gruesome discoveries. “It looked like a pig was probably trapped under the vehicle and dragged about a thousand yards through the field before it finally got up and walked out. You could follow the footprints right back to the building. At that time there was two pigs laying there dead, several others that had deep scrapes and gouges, several with busted legs.”
Finch said that there were initially 15 hogs that were killed or injured. “But since that time we’re probably closer to 30 or 35 head now. Injuries or internal bruising has shown up since then,” said Finch. “Several of those have had to be euthanized today.”
The Struthers farm is a relatively large livestock operation, marketing approximately 16,000 head of hogs annually, according to Finch. But Finch said he knows of no one who bears any ill-will toward the operation. “Really, most of our neighbors know we’re in the livestock business and have been real considerate and we haven’t had any problems with the neighbors or the community,” he said.
Valued at approximately $100 each, the total losses will amount to about $3,000 for the Struthers farm. But Finch said it’s not about the money. “It’s one thing to turn the animals loose, that’s just an inconvenience for us. But then to take a vehicle and purposefully and willfully injure animals like that, that’s pretty awful animal abuse and it shouldn’t be tolerated,” said Finch. “At first, we weren’t going to make a big deal of this, until we saw more and more. When we had to start putting them down because of this, then that’s when we drew the line.”
A group of Story County agricultural organizations have come together to offer a reward for information in the case. The Story County Farm Bureau has joined with the county pork producers and cattle producers associations, as well as feed supplier Mid-State Milling, to offer a reward of $1,500 for information leading to the arrest of individuals responsible for the crime.
The Story County Sheriff’s Office can be reached at 515-382-6566.
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