Magistrate cites insufficient evidence in 'cruelty' ruling

SUNBURY - The father-and-son farmers charged in a private criminal complaint with animal cruelty for treatment of cows on their Irish Valley dairy farm have been found not guilty on all counts.

Magisterial District Judge Robert Bolton issued his ruling Friday morning.

Bolton, who heard five hours of testimony at a preliminary hearing Thursday, said not enough evidence was presented to establish a case against Lloyd Reitz Sr. and his son, Andy Reitz.

Lloyd Reitz was charged with 14 summary counts of animal cruelty. His son was charged with seven counts of the same offense.

The Reitzes, who had pleaded not guilty, could have faced up to 90 days in prison and fines between $50 and $750.

Former Reitz employee Jeannette K. Aderhold, of Danville RR6, had filed the private criminal complaint with the assistance of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Criminal complaints are typically filed by law enforcement, but individuals can file them for summary offenses if a magistrate deems the initial evidence worthy.

Video footage

During a telephone interview Friday morning, Bolton said video footage taken by Aderhold did not prove the defendants committed wanton cruelty toward the cows and calves on their farm.

The judge said the video footage was taken on certain dates and times by Aderhold, who only worked at the farm about four hours per day for one year. He said there was no way of knowing that the animals were not properly nourished and given adequate medical care, and the facility wasn't cleaned when Aderhold was not at the farm. Bolton said testimony provided by Aderhold and veterinarian Dr. Holly Cheever was not sufficient to find the Reitzes guilty of any of the offenses filed against them. He pointed out that Cheever never visited the farm and based her testimony on the videotapes, which were presented in court, and her experience as a veterinarian.

Bolton said he agreed with defense lawyer Roger Wiest II that prosecuting attorney Steve Winning never officially identified the defendants in court before resting the Commonwealth's case. The judge said allegations of neglect and abuse leveled against the Reitzes were unfounded in terms of testimony presented at the hearing.

Local vet key

The judge said he put considerable stake in the testimony provided by Dr. James Temple, a veterinarian who has inspected and cared for animals on the Reitz farm for 37 years.

He said Temple testified that he found no evidence of animal cruelty or neglect on the farm and pointed out that veterinarians had a difficult time diagnosing what was wrong with three of the cows shown on the video that eventually died.

Bolton agreed with Temple that the Reitz farm was a typical dairy farm that exercised the same methods as other open graze facilities.

Parties react

Wiest said he was happy with Bolton's ruling and chastised PETA for hiring Aderhold to "spy" on the Reitzes in hope of finding them guilty of something. (See separate story).

David W. Perle, senior communications coordinator for PETA in Washington, D.C., reacted to the ruling.

"Though justice was not served for the cows Thursday, we know that this case has been a wake-up call for the dairy industry and has shown the public that in every glass of milk and pat of butter, there is a tremendous amount of animal suffering."

He said Land O'Lakes, the Minnesota-based dairy company, "has done nothing to prevent such animal abuse and neglect on its suppliers' farms and continues to buy from Reitz Dairy."

Land O'Lakes issued a statement after the accusations became public last fall saying it was not aware of any issues but would investigate. The company issued a press release a few weeks later saying its own survey of the Reitz farm and an audit of the farm's herd and animal housing facility conducted by four independent veterinarians found cows on the farm in good health and found no evidence of animal mistreatment. It said there were suggestions for "areas of improvement" on the farm, including remodeling the space where cows are housed and use of more bedding for the animals.

Daphna Nachminovitch, vice president of cruelty investigations for PETA, who assisted Winning in prosecuting the case Thursday, mentioned the larger dairy industry in her comments, too.

"If filth, downed cows, untreated illnesses and injuries are considered accepted industry standards, then this case should surely serve as a wake-up call to the dairy industry and dairy farmers in Pennsylvania whose reputations suffer when filthy, disgusting conditions such as the ones we documented at the Reitz Dairy are considered business as usual," she said.

The original charges, which included one count of cruelty to animals against both Lloyd and Andy Reitz, were filed Sept. 24. They were withdrawn Dec. 11. In January, multiple counts of cruelty to animals were filed against the farmers at Bolton's office.