A Jefferson County rancher who has repeatedly been investigated for animal abuse the past three years pleaded guilty this week to two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty in connection with a probe of his treatment of animals in 2007.
John Wilmarth McCulley Jr. could receive up to 18 months in jail on each of the counts, according to Pam Russell, spokesperson for the Jefferson County district attorney’s office.
However, McCulley still faces a felony aggravated-cruelty charge based on an investigation surrounding abuse of 17 horses that were seized in May.
In the more recent case, investigators allege that McCulley dragged a malnourished and mistreated horse 60 feet through a pasture with his pickup truck.
According to the district attorney’s office, McCulley tied a rope to the neck of a horse named Blue, connected it to his pickup and drove quickly out of a pasture.
In the older 2007 case, in which he pleaded guilty on Monday, the Jefferson County sheriff’s office received a complaint concerning the condition of horses on McCulley’s property. Animal-control officers went out and found 27 horses and a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig to be in serious condition.
They appeared malnourished and mistreated, according to investigators. There was no hay, little grazing available and no fresh water. The horses were underweight, their coats were matted and not groomed and their hooves were untrimmed.
McCulley was given a warning and an opportunity resolve the situation, said Russell. Ultimately, however, the 27 horses were seized in June 2007 when McCulley failed to provide the care that had been ordered.
Jefferson County Judge Charles Hoppin returned the horses to McCulley in August 2008.
This May, following another call to McCulley’s property, 17 horses again were seized, many of them the same animals that had been returned to McCulley in August 2008.
McCulley forfeited his rights to the horses in June, and all 17 have been adopted out.
Hoppin will sentence McCulley on the misdemeanor case at 8:15 a.m. on Oct. 16.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
