CHIMACUM — A state Department of Agriculture official confirmed Saturday that a formal investigation is under way in the deaths of eight Beaver Valley dairy heifers.
The cattle, belonging to Gerald Bishop, were apparently poisoned by tainted hay bails containing common groundsel, a plant that is toxic to cattle and some other farm animals.
As of Saturday, no other ranchers had reported related cattle deaths.
But Bishop has another 20 heifers and a bull that are likely to die.
Brent Perry of the state Department of Agriculture said from his Spokane home Saturday that he can’t discuss the investigation at this time.
Perry called the investigation a “fact-finding” measure, but would not say if the poisoning is a criminal matter.
———–
The rest of the story appears in the Sunday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE, above, to get the rest of the story every day — delivered to your home or office.