Garvin County Man Charged With Animal Neglect Over Cattle Conditions

A man is facing a felony charge for animal neglect. Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullett said they've worked several animal abuse cases, but this is one of the worst they've seen.

Sheriff Mullett said he was shocked to see the living conditions of the cattle on Dale Jones' property.

“Normally cattle, if someone's going to buy that many cattle they're going to take care of it. It's a lot of money. It's a lot of money invested. To see it not being taken care of and to see the cruelty that was taking place with this livestock, it shocked us (and) that's why we intervened,” Sheriff Mullett said.

Deputies have been looking into this pasture for months. While walking through the Jones' property they found 23 dead cows. Pictures were taken of the dead cows and the 30 cows in poor condition. Deputies observed hip and backbones with little to no muscle tone, according to a probable cause affidavit. It also said the grass had been grazed down to dirt and the ponds had several carcasses of dead cattle.

“We checked oil wells, we checked the water, we checked the soil, we're checking you know even properties around thinking maybe there's something going on with the water because that's how neglected these cattle were. Come to find out everything checked out clear,” Sheriff Mullett said.

Officials reached out to Jones on how to make improvements to his property, Sheriff Mullett said after a few months they noticed no progress. Court documents said a veterinarian rated the cattle on a scale of one to six and they received a one.

“We seized the animals and got them off the property and we filed charges on him for neglect of the cattle. If you can't afford them don't get them,” Sheriff Mullett said.

The Sheriff said the health of the cattle they removed is improving. Jones will be back in court next month.