An ag group is offering a $3,500 dollar reward for information in the case of vandalism at a hog confinement facility in Sioux County. Aaron Putze, the executive director of the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers, says they hope the reward will generate information that helps solve the case.
Putze says the Coalition has been working with local law enforcement since the news first came out on November 13th about the loss of 4,000 pigs. “The farm community does not tolerate animal abuse, livestock abuse, in any form at any time, and we wanted to come forward an assist law enforcement there in Sioux County,”Putze says.
Putze says they don’t know if the vandalism was caused by an organized group or a lone person. Putze says: “Law enforcement at this point has been very reluctant to hypothesize on what is behind this. What we do know is that the ventilation systems in this particular barn were tampered with, that caused the death of nearly 3,800 hogs. That kind of abuse cannot be tolerated.”
He says this is not the only case of vandalism in the state, as they are trying to help solve another case in Calhoun and Sac counties. He says liquid propane tanks on farms in those counties have been shot by someone with a high-calibre rifle, and in southern Iowa he says there’s a case of livestock farmer who had cattle shot and fences cut along with other vandalism.
“So sadly there are pockets of this kind of activity and it cannot be tolerated and we want to do whatever we can to help bring this person or persons responsible to justice,” Putze says. Putze says they are asking anyone who has any kind of lead in the Sioux County case to call the sheriff. He says you can remain anonymous.
Putze says they are hoping that someone, somewhere might have heard or seen something. He says it doesn’t have to be much, but it may help in the case and they encourage you to contact the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office. You can call the sheriff at 712-737-3307. The 3,500 reward is for information that leads to an arrest in the case. The dead hogs in the Sioux County case were estimated to be work over $200,000.