http://www.komotv.com/stories/36343.htmBAY VIEW, WASH. - Kevin Geagen's German shepherd took a romp at his neighbor's Bay View ranch. Two weeks later, the dog was dead. Suspicious, Geagen investigated. On his neighbor's land, he discovered carcass after rotting carcass of cattle - some in standing water, some skulls stuck in trees, some bones covered with moss.
He took his findings to the Skagit County Health Department. Armed with a search warrant, health and law enforcement officials found the remains of at least 172 cattle in fields, in a shed and in a run-down truck on the property northwest of Mount Vernon. Matt Kaufman, an environmental health specialist with the health department, said it was among the most severe cases of disregard for public health and animal husbandry he had ever seen.
Roger Pederson (the ranch owner) is known in the Bay View community as a man with firmly held political views. He ran, unsuccessfully, as a Republican for a seat in the state House of Representatives in 2002. He was a vocal opponent of the Port of Anacortes redistricting from three commissioners to five. Pederson is also well known for his unsuccessful lawsuit to stop the Skagit Public Utility District from extending municipal water service to Bay View. He has also opposed efforts by the health department to investigate failing septic systems in the Bay View area.
(It's interesting that the media focused on his political views)