By The Denver Post
A Logan County rancher has been found guilty on 14 counts of animal cruelty after cattle carcasses were found scattered across his property along with more than a dozen emaciated cows.
Gilbert Dean Schuman will be sentenced on March 30 in Logan County Court.
“The court’s decision is a warning to all that abuse such as this will not be tolerated,” said Dr. Keith Roehr, state veterinarian for the Colorado Department of Agriculture. “My outrage is shared by Colorado’s livestock owners who consider the care and welfare of their cattle a top priority.”
Authorities raided Schuman’s 160-acre ranch near Sterling last March and found 79 decomposing carcasses frozen in a pond, buried under hay or scattered on a hill hiding them from the road. Another 28 starving cattle were seized by the department and Schuman was ruled an “unfit owner” by a judge authorizing the seizure.
“We have spent a significant amount of time and effort working with the Logan County Sheriff’s Office investigators to provide a safe atmosphere for the cattle that Mr. Schuman should have been caring for,” Roehr said in a statement.
