Contact: Donna Gilson 608-224-5130
ELLSWORTH, Wis. – A Wisconsin man and his Minnesota business associate have pled guilty in Pierce County Circuit Court to charges of illegally moving quarantined cattle, and each has paid nearly $1,400 in penalties under a judgment filed Nov. 29.
“We view quarantine violations as serious offenses, especially when they involve cattle from states that have recently had tuberculosis outbreaks as Minnesota had when this violation occurred,” said State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Ehlenfeldt of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The State Veterinarian issues animal quarantines in Wisconsin and his office enforces them.
According to court documents, Raul Vasquez, of Elmwood, Wis., agreed to provide and transport cattle from Farmington, Minn., to property owned by Liborio Ramirez in the Town of Oak Grove in Pierce County. Ramirez is a resident of Inver Grove Heights, Minn. The cattle were to be used in a rodeo.
Township officials discussing permits for the event notified the State Veterinarian of the cattle imports. When state investigators checked records, the men could not produce health certificates to prove the cattle were free of tuberculosis and other diseases, and they had not received an import permit from DATCP. As a result, the cattle were quarantined Aug. 14, 2009, meaning they could not be moved. On a followup visit to the property, investigators found that the cattle had been shipped to a sale barn in Zumbrota, Minn. in mid-October 2009.
The court ordered each man to pay a $1,000 civil forfeiture and $397 in court costs. Pierce County District Attorney John O’Boyle filed the charges at DATCP’s request.
