MILLERSBURG — On order of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, a herd of deer suspected of being exposed to chronic wasting disease was killed Thursday.
The deer are owned by Timothy Bales, who earlier this month asked Holmes County Common Pleas Judge Robert Rinfret to intervene and put on hold execution of the depopulation order pending an administrative hearing with the ODA.
Rinfret found he was without jurisdiction to grant the request because Bales had not exhausted all possible administrative remedies.
On Thursday, Bales said he received a 6 a.m. phone call advising him “they're getting ready to kill all these deer,” he said. In a 11:40 a.m. email, he wrote, “Can hear gun fire.... They are shooting the deer!!”
Bales' ODA administrative …show more content…
Yoder, who, as a consequence of his own malfeasance in managing his deer farm, was convicted of several criminal offenses. While several of Yoder's herds, confirmed to have been exposed to CWD, were destroyed on order of the state, his criminal sentence required him to divest himself from the business and any remaining …show more content…
Nevertheless, according to court exhibits, Bales never completed a required inventory of the herd and his license was, subsequently, denied, according to ODA documents.
That prompted the March 29 filing of criminal charges against Bales, accused in Holmes County Municipal Court of acting as a small dealer without a license. That case has yet to be resolved.
On May 17, the ODA issued an order to kill all the deer on Honey Run Farm. He was given 30 days to hire an appraiser, conduct an appraisal, request a hearing, conduct a hearing and exterminate approximately 77 animals, according to the motion filed in common pleas court by Baserman.
Two separate requests to delay execution of the order previously were denied by the ODA, and Baserman said he had no option but to petition the local court, which he said has jurisdiction because Bales, the animals and the property all exist or reside within Holmes County.
In response to a request to stay the kill order pending appeal, ODA indicates a state veterinarian “has indicated that these animals present an imminent danger to the rest of the deer population of the State of Ohio,” according to a letter from ODA Chief Legal Counsel Julie
The deer are owned by Timothy Bales, who earlier this month asked Holmes County Common Pleas Judge Robert Rinfret to intervene and put on hold execution of the depopulation order pending an administrative hearing with the ODA.
Rinfret found he was without jurisdiction to grant the request because Bales had not exhausted all possible administrative remedies.
On Thursday, Bales said he received a 6 a.m. phone call advising him “they're getting ready to kill all these deer,” he said. In a 11:40 a.m. email, he wrote, “Can hear gun fire.... They are shooting the deer!!”
Bales' ODA administrative …show more content…
Yoder, who, as a consequence of his own malfeasance in managing his deer farm, was convicted of several criminal offenses. While several of Yoder's herds, confirmed to have been exposed to CWD, were destroyed on order of the state, his criminal sentence required him to divest himself from the business and any remaining …show more content…
Nevertheless, according to court exhibits, Bales never completed a required inventory of the herd and his license was, subsequently, denied, according to ODA documents.
That prompted the March 29 filing of criminal charges against Bales, accused in Holmes County Municipal Court of acting as a small dealer without a license. That case has yet to be resolved.
On May 17, the ODA issued an order to kill all the deer on Honey Run Farm. He was given 30 days to hire an appraiser, conduct an appraisal, request a hearing, conduct a hearing and exterminate approximately 77 animals, according to the motion filed in common pleas court by Baserman.
Two separate requests to delay execution of the order previously were denied by the ODA, and Baserman said he had no option but to petition the local court, which he said has jurisdiction because Bales, the animals and the property all exist or reside within Holmes County.
In response to a request to stay the kill order pending appeal, ODA indicates a state veterinarian “has indicated that these animals present an imminent danger to the rest of the deer population of the State of Ohio,” according to a letter from ODA Chief Legal Counsel Julie