Скачать или смотреть Woman wants sheep back as feedlot owners decline to comment on investigation

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IDAHO FALLS — The owners of a local feedlot accused of animal abuse and neglect declined to comment about the situation Wednesday when EastIdahoNews.com visited the property.

The large lot off East Kathleen Street near Sage Lakes Golf Course is owned by Roberto and Trinidad Zamora, according to the Bonneville County Assessor’s Office. The feedlot is under investigation after reports of animal abuse were made by neighbors and the Animal Rescue Mission (ARM), a Florida-based animal rights group.

An ARM representative visited the facility Friday and recorded filthy and inhumane conditions. Video shows live animals being stabbed with knives along with goats and pigs being tied around the neck with a rope before being dragged across the property, strangled and cut into. EastIdahoNews.com cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the video.

Two days after the visit, a large fire was reported at the feedlot that took six hours to contain. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Two of the Zamora brothers were working at the property when EastIdahoNews.com visited Wednesday morning. They asked us to stop recording and leave the feedlot. When pressed for a comment, one brother told us to wait at the entrance.

He met us there a short time later with his brother, who told us they do not know why the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, ISDA, USDA or animal control services were at their property last week.

“The Sheriff has a case and you guys can talk to them,” one of the Zamora brothers said.

Debby McCausey also visited the feedlot Wednesday. She raised six sheep from birth for the 4H organization and began looking for a sanctuary last month after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that made it difficult to care for the animals.

McCausey tells EastIdahoNews.com that she posted about the sheep on Facebook saying she wanted to sell them to someone who would properly care for them as they grew older.

According to McCausey, the Zamora brothers reached out to her about the post and said they would purchase the six sheep for $300. One of the brothers came to her house, paid for the animals and left.

“They promised that (the sheep) were coming down here not to be butchered,” McCausey explained. “They were going to live on a pasture for the rest of their lives. He swore that they were just going to graze and eat the ditch banks down. I asked him over and over again if they were going to be butchered because we won’t sell them if they’re going to be butchered. He promised me they weren’t.”

McCausey’s daughter called her Tuesday night after EastIdahoNews.com posted a story about the investigation. She recognized two of her sheep standing in an unsanitary environment in the undercover video from ARM.

“My daughter called me at 10:00 p.m. last night hysterically crying because we sold our sheep to a slaughterhouse,” says McCausey. “It wasn’t supposed to be that way. They were supposed to just be able to live and die peacefully when they were all older, you know?”

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