Warsaw beef farmer Walter Ray was never charged and his beef animals were not in distress. But he still lost his herd and has to pay a lot of money.
The 77-year-old Ray largely prevailed at a provincial tribunal in his recent cost dispute with Ontario’s animal police. The tribunal slashed the nearly $400,000 animal care bill sought by the Provincial Animal Welfare Services (PAWS). But PAWS is appealing the decision.
Animal Care Review Board adjudicator Susan Clarke ruled Aug. 8 that Ray must pay only $14,276 of the $391,196 incurred by PAWS after its officers seized his healthy beef herd before Christmas and held them at expensive foster farms for months. Ray was billed between $20 and $50 per day per animal.
The PAWS demand stood at $144,000 when Ray’s appeal was initially heard in March and rose to more than $391,000 by the time the animals were finally sold in early May.