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Otoe County officials described a horrific scene of dead animals at a farm northwest of Unadilla and ordered hundreds of carcasses burned along with the buildings as part of the clean up.
Deputies said 60-year-old John Maahs originally told them the flu had killed three pigs, but they soon discovered piles of dead animals in pens and buildings throughout the property.
Deputy Joe Rehrs said Maahs led him to a large hog confinement building down the road from his house.
“I first observed several rotting pig carcasses in the first pen. In the second pen there was a pile of rotting pig carcasses in different stages of decay.
“The pile was approximately four feet high and several feet long in each direction,“ he said.
“The third pen had another pile of rotting and decaying pig carcasses similar to the previous pen,” he reported in a warrant affidavit.
“I asked Maahs again why these pigs died. Maahs just looked at me and did not say anything,” Rehrs said.
“I asked Maahs what was in the pens further to the east. Maahs stated that this was all of them. I shined my flashlight to the east and near the east wall I observed a large pile of rotting and decaying carcasses.
“I asked Maahs if we could continue to the east, again Maahs lowered his head and began walking to the east side.
“In each pen I observed rotting or decaying pig and goat carcasses,” Rehrs said.
He said there were also eight dead goats surrounding an empty feeder in the center of a pen on the west end of the building.
Rehrs then directed Maahs to another nearby building, where additional dead animals were found.
Deputies then began searching other buildings near the house.
They found 40 small feeder pigs inside a chicken coop and Rehrs described them as very thin. He said there was no water or food in the building and no containers to put water in.
“I observed four or five pigs that had recently died,” he said.
They found several dead goats in pens near the driveway and then came to a large machine shed.
The deputies found about 20 pigs loaded onto a trailer that was attached to a tractor. There was no food or water on the trailer.
A pen near the trailer contained pigs that appeared to have recently died and several who were sick and could not get up.
Otoe County officials described a horrific scene of dead animals at a farm northwest of Unadilla and ordered hundreds of carcasses burned along with the buildings as part of the clean up.
Deputies said 60-year-old John Maahs originally told them the flu had killed three pigs, but they soon discovered piles of dead animals in pens and buildings throughout the property.
Deputy Joe Rehrs said Maahs led him to a large hog confinement building down the road from his house.
“I first observed several rotting pig carcasses in the first pen. In the second pen there was a pile of rotting pig carcasses in different stages of decay.
“The pile was approximately four feet high and several feet long in each direction,“ he said.
“The third pen had another pile of rotting and decaying pig carcasses similar to the previous pen,” he reported in a warrant affidavit.
“I asked Maahs again why these pigs died. Maahs just looked at me and did not say anything,” Rehrs said.
“I asked Maahs what was in the pens further to the east. Maahs stated that this was all of them. I shined my flashlight to the east and near the east wall I observed a large pile of rotting and decaying carcasses.
“I asked Maahs if we could continue to the east, again Maahs lowered his head and began walking to the east side.
“In each pen I observed rotting or decaying pig and goat carcasses,” Rehrs said.
He said there were also eight dead goats surrounding an empty feeder in the center of a pen on the west end of the building.
Rehrs then directed Maahs to another nearby building, where additional dead animals were found.
Deputies then began searching other buildings near the house.
They found 40 small feeder pigs inside a chicken coop and Rehrs described them as very thin. He said there was no water or food in the building and no containers to put water in.
“I observed four or five pigs that had recently died,” he said.
They found several dead goats in pens near the driveway and then came to a large machine shed.
The deputies found about 20 pigs loaded onto a trailer that was attached to a tractor. There was no food or water on the trailer.
A pen near the trailer contained pigs that appeared to have recently died and several who were sick and could not get up.
Also inside the building were several large piles of dead animal carcasses.
It appeared that there were goat, cow and pig carcasses in several of the piles, Rehrs said.
Maahs is charged with animal cruelty and is being held in county jail on a $5,000 bond provision.
A veterinarian with the Nebraska Humane Society inspected the pigs on Thursday night and told deputies it appeared that all of the living animals were suffering from dehydration and starvation.
Following inspections of carcasses on Friday, the veterinarian reported that the animals' stomach contents contained mostly hair and dirt.
Starvation was declared the cause of the death.
Mark Langan, vice president of field operations for the Humane Society, said the case ranks among the worst ever encountered by Nebraska officials.
“This is not representative of normal pork producers or pork operations of the state of Nebraska,” he said. “This is a horrendous situation where an individual let things get way out of control.”
"It's very sad," he said.
Due to the piles of dead animals and damage inside of the buildings, authorities decided to burn the carcasses and buildings.
Otoe County has ordered a pit dug and plans to push the remains into the pit for burial.
Prosecutors said Monday it is unclear why the animals were neglected. While deputies were on the property, Maahs was able to located feeding troughs that were moved into the buildings where animals were still alive.
Maahs also had some feed available.
Rehrs said deputies had been to the property in the past on reports of loose animals and a report of dead goats.
