Traveler loses custody of goats

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A man who allegedly left a trail of dead goats through several states has lost custody of his 200-plus remaining animals pending the outcome of animal cruelty cases in Ohio and West Virginia.

Christopher Weathersbee, 64, fled to West Virginia with 16 of his goats, including a dead one he'd been storing in a freezer, in late February amid an impoundment and seizure by agents in Scioto County, Ohio.

Ohio agents found an estimated 80 goat carcasses on his rented property -- including one in the house and another nine in a freezer, according to Teresa Landon, director of the Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They also seized about 220 live goats from the property.

In West Virginia, shelter officials found another goat dead after a passer-by notified officials that the goats appeared thin and weak. Officials seized the 14 living animals -- a seizure that was upheld Tuesday.

Weathersbee said Wednesday that he was obligated to care for the goats as a Third Order Franciscan. When they died, he said he didn't have the strength to bury them, considering the fact the ground was frozen.

"I'm one old man trying to fight city hall in three states," he said, adding that he is also seeking to overturn a 2004 animal cruelty conviction in Vermont.

It was not immediately known whether Weathersbee had retained a lawyer.

Weathersbee first came to the attention of officials in 2001 when he started seeking assistance in caring for his more than 300 goats while living in Corinth, Vt.

He wanted to start a no-kill goat shelter where he could produce cheese and wool, said Dana Starr with the Central Vermont Humane Society. He applied for loans, grants and even petitioned the governor for help.

"He couldn't afford to feed them and couldn't understand why others didn't aid him," Starr said on Tuesday.

At one time Weathersbee had some of the animals living in his house with him. The animals were allowed to breed and multiply and started starving, Starr said.

The Vermont humane society seized 44 goats in February 2004, she said, and Weathersbee was later charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty. He entered into a plea agreement under which he agreed to take his goats, including those that were seized, and leave the state, Starr said.

Weathersbee went to eastern Kentucky, telling Vermont humane officials his animals would be cared for as part of a vegetation-management project, Starr said.

He was in Kentucky only a couple of weeks, and it was unclear how many of his animals died by the time he arrived in Franklin Furnace, Ohio, on Dec. 28, Landon said.

Weathersbee is scheduled to have a pretrial hearing in Ohio next month on 15 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 90 days in jail and fined up to $740 on each count. He also faces 16 counts of animal cruelty in West Virginia.

He has previously acknowledged that he could not afford to give the herd sufficient care, but he refused to get rid of the animals because he said his religious views prohibited him from slaughtering any of the goats.