Trial begins for Polk County alpaca ranch owner
The trial for a man who owns a Falls City ranch where Polk County deputies say they found 175 emaciated alpacas last year began with jury selection and opening statements Tuesday.
Robert Silver is charged with 17 counts of first-degree animal neglect and one count of second-degree animal neglect.
In December 2013, the Polk County Sheriff's Office seized the herd at Jocelyn's Alpaca Ranch on Parry Road in Falls City. Silver and his wife, Jocelyn, were indicted mid-January on two counts of felony animal neglect and 16 counts of misdemeanor animal neglect.
The sheriff's office compiled a report about complaints against the ranch owners regarding mistreatment of the animals on the 20-acre property. Deputies entered the ranch with a licensed veterinarian and reportedly found dead alpacas and evidence that every animal in the herd had not received basic care.
The sheriff's office obtained a warrant to impound all the alpacas. When they went back a second time, they found 30 dead alpacas and two more that couldn't stand.
The surviving alpacas were brought to the Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine for immediate care and the Silvers were cited to appear in Polk County Circuit Court.
Robert Silver pleaded not guilty to the charges on Jan. 21, while Jocelyn Silver pleaded guilty and was convicted of one count of first-degree neglect and one count of second-degree neglect in June. She was sentenced to three years of supervised probation along with restitution fees amounting to more than $15,000, according to online court records.
After Polk County Circuit Judge Norman Hill delivered instructions to the 13-member jury, Jake Kamins, animal cruelty deputy district attorney for the State of Oregon, delivered his opening statements.
"You are going to hear about a business called Jocelyn's Alpaca Ranch," Kamins said.
The ranch started in 2006 when the Silvers moved to Oregon. According to Kamins, neither of them had any experience in caring for alpacas before purchasing the ranch and the animals.
"By December 2013, Jocelyn's Alpaca Ranch was a disaster," he said. "There were animals dropping dead in front of neighbors' eyes."
He said law enforcement went to the ranch after complaints and found some of the animals eating a tarp that covered them. They then hauled 17 dead alpacas off the property. Six of those dead animals were sent to the veterinary college at OSU to undergo an autopsy. It was determined that they died of starvation, Kamins said.
When authorities went back to the ranch a second time, they hauled 41 dead alpaca off the property.
"You'll here Mr. Silver thought there was some sort of virus running through the herd," Kamins said. "His attempts to make it better came down to selling a few animals."
Kamins said that Silver tried to find a market for the alpacas.
"He viewed these animals as a business and a business only."
Silver's attorney Timothy Park then stood before the jury and told them about the unfortunate circumstances that led to the demise of the ranch.
Park said that Silver inherited a significant amount of money and agreed to open an alpaca ranch based on his wife's wishes. At the time, they were able to sell a female alpaca for between $5,000 to $7,500.
"Shortly after they started buying those things, the market went down," Park said. "Eventually their money ran out."
When Jocelyn's Alpaca Ranch first opened, the owners were able to provide hay and pellets to the animals. But eventually they could only afford hay. They tried nutritional substitutes and sold eight or nine male alpacas.
"They cared for these animals. They didn't want to just sell them to anyone," Park said.
"They tried to make it go as much as they could with what they had available."
jdewitt@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6714 or follow on Twitter.com @Joce_DeWitt
