A jury in Coffey County District Court on Thursday convicted a Lebo man of cruelty to animals he was caring for on his property.
Ronald Dean Freund, 52, was convicted on one count of cruelty to animals. Coffey County Attorney Doug Witteman had filed the charge on Sept. 13, 2004, and alleged that between July 29 and Aug. 16, 2004, Freund had failed to provide food and/or proper veterinary care for the cattle.
Freund was pasturing cattle for owners in Lorraine and Aurora. The two owners had paid Freund more than $19,000 in advance to take care of the animals.
Witteman said that several complaints had been received by the Coffey County Sheriff’s office and the Humane Society regarding a herd of 194 cattle on a 120-acre pasture southwest of Lebo. A subsequent investigation produced evidence that the pasture was severely over-grazed and that the herd was malnourished and in poor condition.
Beginning July 29, a Humane Society volunteer with experience in feeding and raising cattle met with Freund to establish a supervised supplemental feeding program. The volunteer testified that Freund refused to fully cooperate and that the cattle remained significantly underfed, according to Witteman.
The cattle were removed by sheriff’s officers and taken to sorting pens, where veterinarians from the Kansas State University College of Agriculture evaluated them. The doctors testified at the trial that the majority of the herd suffered from severe malnutrition.
William Mollhagen from Lorraine removed his cattle after the evaluations. The remaining animals, which were believed to belong to Freund at the time, were taken into the custody of Sheriff Randy Rogers and moved to a feeding area near Burlington.
In early September, Mark Labarge of Aurora came to Coffey County to view his cattle and first learned that the cattle had been removed to Burlington. He notified the sheriff’s office that he owned most of the remaining cattle and arranged to have his cattle trucked back to Cloud County.
Witteman said that Freund had originally been found guilty of cruelty to animals by Magistrate Judge Jon Stephen Jones on May 31, 2005, after a bench trial. Freund appealed his conviction to district court and requested a jury trial. The case then had been continued twice at the defendant’s request.
“I am pleased that we were finally able to get this case tried,” Witteman said. “We were able to provide extremely compelling evidence through the testimony of very credible witnesses and numerous photographs of the animals. Mr. Freund was found guilty of cruelty to animals initially by a magistrate judge and now by a jury of Coffey County citizens.”
Freund will be sentenced at 1:45 p.m. July 11. The maximum sentence for cruelty to animals, a Class A misdemeanor, is a $2,500 fine and one year in the county jail.
Witteman said the law allows the court to order restitution for the cost associated with care of the cattle.
barbara61 (anonymous) says...
I hope the judge gives him the maximum. Hes lucky Im not the judge, I would chain his butt to a tree out in that same field where those animals had to live and stave. So he could have the same fate, but we would try not to recue his worthless butt. Doesnt he know never mess with the YOUNG , THE ELDERLY OR mans best friend ..our ANIMALS. What an IDIOT ! Put him in a pasture and hang em... high.
May 22, 2007 at 3:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barbara61 (anonymous) says...
Im just noticing my type mistake (starve) sorry folks. I seen that too snake, its a dam disgrace. I agree with you all the way on your statement about the gentlemen that paid this man $19,000 to take care of his cattle. Thats alot of money. He got screwed for sure. I would want to beat his butt! if I was that man. Hes out of his money and cattle.
May 22, 2007 at 8:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lesterboots0625 (anonymous) says...
Just because someone is found guilty doesn't necessarily mean that they are. The paper never interviewed Mr. Freund did they? There are always 2 sides to every story. If he was convicted of 1 (one) count out of 194 cows and they were supposedly malnourished, why didn't he get more counts? The article doesn't say how badly Mr. Freund was hurt by the sheriff's deputies either, does it? Is it right for deputies to use brutal force when they were never told to arrest him? The sheriff's department never served a warrant or anything else on Mr. Freund...that is an infrengment on Constitutional Rights. The Humane Society never notified the Sheriff's Department that Mr. Freund should be arrested.
May 19, 2009 at 5:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthefacts (anonymous) says...
The sheriff's department doesn't need permission from the Humane Society to arrest anyone. If they see a crime or are challenged, they make the arrest. If there is a conviction the law sees that person guilty. The system did it's job.
May 19, 2009 at 5:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
Maybe you should read up on the laws a bit lesterboots0625, it's painfully obvious you know very little about them.
May 19, 2009 at 9:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
One of the highest callings of the human spirit is to help animals in need.
One of the lowest forms of man is the one that purposefully abuses them.
lesterboots0625 you need to go back and repeat American Law 101.....you apparently failed it the first time.
May 20, 2009 at 5:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )