Daniel Rohrer Jr., 61, acknowledged that he left dead sheep decaying for years in his barn, but said the carcasses didn't affect his care of the animals living there.
He agreed that some of his cows were thin, but said that was because they were nursing calves. He acknowledged that some goats had hooves in need of trimming but said the animals were either too hard to catch or ready for slaughter anyway.
But Rohrer said he was bothered by the way his livestock was treated by animal-control officers who seized 95 animals from his farm in November. It took authorities more than two weeks to corral the animals and move them to other farms.
"There were times they ran them anywhere from two to four hours at a time, take a break, come back and do it again," Rohrer told the judge at the bench trial in Frederick County District Court.
He said one of his cows fell during a chase and had to be euthanized.
Prosecutors said some of the cattle seized from Rohrer's pasture were emaciated, while some animals kept in the farmer's barn were obese.
Animal-control officers said an automatic grain feeder in the barn was empty and a self-filling watering device had floating muck and feces.
A veterinarian who testified earlier for the prosecution said five confiscated sheep later died from pregnancy toxemia, a condition that can result from overfeeding during pregnancy.
Rohrer testified that he had hoped the sheep were pregnant but hadn't checked.
Rohrer said he ran the farm alone and sold the meat at area farmer's markets.
He was originally charged with 318 counts of animal cruelty but the state dropped most of the charges to avoid a lengthy trial. A judge acquitted Rohrer on six counts after the prosecution rested.
Rohrer is also fighting a charge that he intimidated a witness by following an animal-control officer after she testified against him.
(Herald-Mail Media - July 1, 2015)
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