EDITORIAL
It’s been almost two months since Julie Anderson and the crew from Pierce County Animal Control swooped down on a farm in Graham and scooped up 39 horses. Even before the first horses were removed, there was a major press release from the county touting the squalid conditions on the farm, the despicable condition of the horses, and the valiant rescue in progress.
Back at the ranch, the unnamed farmer and wife along with many of their friends were suffering shock and awe. The farmer and his wife were forced to stay in inside their house while their beloved animals were rounded up, loaded onto trailers and taken to ‘jail’ at Frontier Park in Graham. It took more than two days for the Animal Control officers to capture all the animals. The stallions that were in the pasture weren’t going easily. They reared up and kicked at the humans trying to catch them.
Meanwhile, the press was being ‘informed’ by the county of all the squalid and inhumane conditions of the animals, the ranch and the ‘must be uncaring’ doctor who was raising them. A few photos were snapped and displayed of the muck in the stalls and a scrawny old horse. Scores of animal rights people were commenting on the stories in the News Tribune, frothing about the horrible people who put animals in that kind of situation, wishing more evil upon them.
The Post received the press releases also. We read the stories and the comments, but most importantly, we visited Frontier Park, over and over from the time the horses were first incarcerated. We talked to friends of the Dillers. We talked to the people who supplied alfalfa for the horses and people who helped clean up the farm after the raid. What we heard conflicted with what we were being told by the county. Almost all the horses looked well fed. The ones that didn’t were very old. Their hooves were not gross, their eyes were bright and curious, but they were frightened. They had never been put in trailers or taken away from their home before. They were in a strange place without familiar faces. They also had very little food on site at Frontier park for the first few days. There was a lot of food back at the farm, but the understandingly indignant doctor wasn’t giving any to the county who seized his horses.
Shortly, other photos of the horses at Frontier Park were released; the county altered its tune a bit. Well, not all the horses were starving and unkempt, but some were. Then they roped off the barns at the park with yellow tape that said, “do not cross” and only allowed approved personnel near the barns and horses.
Frontier Park has a large arena where horses can be ridden or walked, but never once did we witness the horses leaving their small stables there. Yes, volunteers mucked them fairly regularly. After several days, piles of alfalfa actually appeared on site and finally a truck load. For the first week, charts hung in front of the stables and animal control officers and volunteers looked at them, walking from stable to stable. After four days we finally saw someone give a few horses some carrots and actually pet them. I certainly wish we had seen more of that. All these horses appeared confused and frightened from the experience, they couldn’t help but be. They needed some love and attention, not just note takers.
So the county was pouring its heart out about the unfortunate horses in the press, and the farmer got a lawyer who started swinging back. The friends of the farmer along with other good hearted neighbors of all ages set to helping clean up the place. Like most people, they felt the best place for the family of horses was back at the farm. Just like when Child Protective Services declares their omnipotence, County Animal Control had other plans.
Word got out the doctor had been raided by the Drug Enforcement Agency the two days before the horses were taken. The first day the raid was at his office, the second day, they raided his farm. Their warrants told of suspected drug dealing in prescription medications. Friends of the doctor claimed there was a disgruntled employee that was either fired or quit, (we have not confirmed which) and this employee had stolen prescription pads to set the doctor up. The former employee commented on stories in the Mountain News, obviously not happy with her experience working at the medical office. Patients also commented on the story there. They missed their doctor, the DEA had taken away his right to prescribe their pain medications. They suffered from lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and other painful conditions. They were struggling to find a place to get their pain relief medications. They spoke of how caring and kind the doctor was.
While the doctor/farmer was struggling to clean up his farm, pay for his lawyer and get his horses back, the county spin generators were putting out their sad tale of the high cost of caring for the horses and the need for volunteers to step up with money to help feed and care for them. Then the county hand-picked people who would be allowed near the horses and barred anyone else from coming in proximity.
And where has this all led? Dr. Diller has been charges with 10 counts of animal cruelty, he will be arraigned Dec. 27. The county has stated it may make additional charges. The tally:
3 horses were killed because they were deemed ‘too dangerous.”
5 horses were killed Dec. 13 because of health conditions.
9 horses have been adopted.
11 more horses are being offered for adoption.
11 horses get to return home to the farm.
When this story broke, I was warned, by someone close to county officials, that I should stay away from the story. There was something odd and quite volatile about the situation. I have spent time wondering. Was it to get attention for our valiant county officials? Who was to benefit from this situation and all the attention? It certainly wasn’t the horses, 8 are dead. Was it to make Julie Anderson look good? Will she be the next choice running for County Executive? It certainly will take a great deal of money and time to wind through the court system. Who will take care of the horses with the doctor in jail? Or will the judge waive the jail time and just inflict a steep fine to pay back the coffers at the county, recovering most of the $62,000 or so they spent creating this situation? $62,000 could have helped muck out a lot of stalls and that doesn’t include the court costs.
From the perspective of the people who live out here in the rural area, there is fear and concern. They wonder about the due process exhibited in this case. There really was none.
Why didn’t the county officials first make warnings to the doctor and pay visits to check on his progress toward those standards? Their first and only solution was to raid the farm and seize the horses. This came at a very high cost to the taxpayer, the officials, the resources and the farmer.
Increasing the doubt was the concurrent timing of an application for another business at the Graham dump, which just coincidently is directly across the street from the Diller Ranch. Much speculation has taken place among neighbors who opposed the dump about the proximity. Was the county interested in acquiring the ranch to build new offices for the dump? How was the test well data across the street? Diller was an outspoken critic of the dump. Was it payback time? If you saw the Dillers view of Mt. Rainier, which is now half obscured by the mountain of city trash, you might better understand that wondering.
For a rescue, the horses paid a very high price. But even more, this is really about the course of due process in Pierce County. Seriously to officials, no matter how bad it may look, sometimes you need to step back and take a harder look at how you are going about things. You don’t have to have heroic rescues to look good and do the job right. You need to have thoughtful consideration to all parties involved even if it takes a few extra days. This really could have been handled better. Perhaps the Animal Control folks had good intentions, but they went about it all wrong. This was an expensive debacle that left the good doctors patients in pain, many horses dead, a good man stomped down and neighbors worrying they will be next. That’s not a definition of success.

Update: The court case has now been moved to February 25, 2013.