One Arrested During Multi-Agency Investigation Into Animal Cruelty, Says Sheriff’s Department

Humboldt County correctional facility jail

[Crop of a photo provided for an earlier press release by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office]

This morning a multi-agency task force served a search warrant at a property on Jackson Ranch Road. According to Humboldt County Sheriff spokesperson Samantha Karges, one person, Ray Christie, was arrested in relation to an animal cruelty investigation.

Karges said that a number of agencies and departments were involved including the Humboldt County Drug Task Force, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Fish and Wildlife, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services Hazmat team, the Humboldt County Environmental Health team as well as Humboldt County Code Enforcement.

“The investigation was sparked by complaints about animal cruelty,” Karges said. “We found numerous dead animals specifically cattle.”

Karges pointed out that a number of people had complained about the property. “It wasn’t just one complaint,” she said. “It has been several. This has been an ongoing issue.”

Some of the complaints Karges said they had received included dead animals in the waterway as well as improper disposal of a dead animal.

While the investigation was occurring at the Jackson Ranch Road, Karges said, The Sheriff’s Office did get a complaint about cattle having escaped from Christie’s ranch near Crannel. There is a current investigation into what occurred up there.

Earlier Chapter: Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department Investigating at Ranch Near Arcata This Morning

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47 Comments
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Mogtx
Guest
5 years ago

I hope if found guilty he gets all the time behind bars possible.,and not allowed to have any animals in his possession, for life ,and bravo to Shannon Miranda .

Brenda edgar
Guest
Brenda edgar
5 years ago
Reply to  Mogtx

Amen!! He needs and to never own another Animal EVER!! make him do time in jail. This isn’t the first time. No telling how many animals suffered in all the years he has been running his cattle ranches!!!

Tom
Guest
Tom
5 years ago
Reply to  Brenda edgar
Johnny Reb
Guest
Johnny Reb
5 years ago

Yes, because animals are far more important than people. Help people first, then the animals.

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
5 years ago
Reply to  Johnny Reb

Are you under the impression that this is the first and only thing the Sheriff’s dept. has ever done?

CA
Guest
CA
5 years ago
Reply to  Johnny Reb

Really Johnny, because that attitude is how you make more criminals like this.

Sleepy Alligator
Guest
Sleepy Alligator
5 years ago
Reply to  Johnny Reb

Johnny I think you’re just fishing (trolling) but I’m gonna bite anyway. It’s not really a matter of importance but more a matter of responsibility. See most humans are capable and responsible for “helping” themselves throughout their life, but domesticated animals, such as cattle, have been domesticated by humans therefore being made to rely on humans to “help” them live. When it comes down to it it actually is a matter of importance, because it’s very important that a human who decides to care for any animal do just that. When they don’t they need to suffer the consequences. Unfortunately the consequences when it comes to animal cruelty are not severe enough. This guy is a repeat offender so I say lock him up for a long time.

Youknowitall
Guest
Youknowitall
5 years ago

Well said.

Humboldtlifer
Guest
Humboldtlifer
5 years ago

Amen!

hmm
Guest
hmm
5 years ago
Reply to  Johnny Reb

False choice.

Jane doe
Guest
Jane doe
5 years ago
Reply to  Johnny Reb

That’s funny. I have never read anywhere, where people are more important than animals.

Animal abusers suck
Guest
Animal abusers suck
5 years ago

Finally!!! Its too bad he was ever allowed to have animals on his property again.

Thank you to the agencies involved, am glad to see my taxes supporting these types of busts!!!!
I think I can speak for most folks in saying to the DA- throw the book at him!

Bozo
Guest
Bozo
5 years ago

Cattle die… especially during calving season Carcasses last a long time out in the field.
They look (and smell) yucky to (I guess) ‘city’ people.

Alas… Humboldt County does not have a rendering facility.
People complained about the ‘smell’ at the old ‘Rockn-R’ facility south of Eureka.
So they closed it.

Now they complain about dead animals they can see/smell. Go figure.
Vultures have to eat too.

Tyler
Guest
Tyler
5 years ago
Reply to  Bozo

It’s called a tractor.

Randi
Guest
Randi
5 years ago
Reply to  Tyler

Right just bury them. They must have equipment. How hard is that?

local observer
Guest
local observer
5 years ago
Reply to  Randi

he can’t. groundwater is too shallow on his property. that would be another violation, which he got previously when he tried to bury them.

Michael Thompson
Guest
Michael Thompson
5 years ago
Reply to  Tyler

A special permit is needed in Humboldt County to legally bury animals on your property.

Brenda edgar
Guest
Brenda edgar
5 years ago
Reply to  Bozo

Maybe you need to know his past!!! Hes a p.o.s so called Cattle Rancher!!!!

Peggy Gibson
Guest
Peggy Gibson
5 years ago
Reply to  Bozo

You are one of the non humans on earth. Those cows are Gods we are only the care takers of them. If you are not human enough to be a care taker then you should not be blessed with the love of any animal. Then you will be what you are less than a human

Honeydew Bridge C.H.U.M.P.
Guest
Honeydew Bridge C.H.U.M.P.
5 years ago

That was always a bad scene, liked the separator that took dung and mixed with irrigation water, but on salt barrow?

Guess it looks like a great spot for a… what would you put there?

My question is, if the land is seized through a felony conviction, what exactly will happen to the land?

Is this a real charge or a land grab?

Watching to see if this [edit] Dept Of Wildlife, stealing land.

We’ll see on RHBB….

Sleepy Alligator
Guest
Sleepy Alligator
5 years ago

If this was a “ land grab” why didn’t they grab it one of the previous times this same crime was committed?

Youknowitall
Guest
Youknowitall
5 years ago

Dont feed troll.

Lone ranger
Guest
Lone ranger
5 years ago

Why would this take more than 2 or 3 officers ? Who did Ray piss off ?

local observer
Guest
local observer
5 years ago
Reply to  Lone ranger

dementia is now is major factor in risk assessment.

Sleepy Alligator
Guest
Sleepy Alligator
5 years ago
Reply to  Lone ranger

Maybe because it’s too early in the season for pot raids so authorities are just sitting around with their fists up their asses waiting for something to bust.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

That’s a whole life inclusive statement.

Adam Harrold
Guest
Adam Harrold
5 years ago
Reply to  Lone ranger

Lone Ranger – I think each agency levies it’s own type of fines. Fines are the county’s new hammer. My bet is this man will face little criminal punishment but steep civil fines.

Peggy Gibson
Guest
Peggy Gibson
5 years ago
Reply to  Lone ranger

Everyone that has any brains

Steve
Guest
Steve
5 years ago

This guy buys cattle at auctions, some are sick and some healthy, he does his best to cut the sick ones out, however some get mixed in and then they die. He feeds them every day and they have plenty to drink, the ones that were dead were to be disposed of but the person who was to come and do it never showed. Look, cattle die all of the time, that’s a fact. At least he wasn’t trying to sell dead beef. Give this guy a break. Cattle ranching isn’t easy, if it were we would be in a heap of shit, just like the weed. Everyone was growing and the market is flooded. Just saying

Lisa
Guest
Lisa
5 years ago

He provides a very important service in our county..He buys animals that no one else will..calves from the dairies, buck goats, etc. What should happen now? Who will now step up and provide this service? The auction yard won’t take them..There’s no rendering plant..
His practices are not always perfect but I do need him to run my business..should all the local ranches shoot and bury all of the animals that he regularly handles? Sounds way worse to me. Look for a solution for this local problem, not a scapegoat

Happymomma
Guest
Happymomma
5 years ago
Reply to  Lisa

I agree

Buzz
Guest
Buzz
5 years ago
Reply to  Lisa

That’s relevant information if it’s true, most people don’t have a clue how gritty animal husbandry is in the best of situations…. the presence of dead animals doesn’t mean automatically mean abuse and neglect are the cause.

It does seem kind of shady though!

Just really sick of the passionate ‘animal lovers ‘ that haven’t ever been exposed to the realities of ranch life; loving animals and living with them means dealing with the not-pretty stuff too!

Bozo the Clone ...I am a CLONE not a clown!
Guest
Bozo the Clone ...I am a CLONE not a clown!
5 years ago
Reply to  Lisa

He is NOT being scapegoated!
In the early seventies I lived on West End Road in Arcata. I raised milk goats with my housemates.
When the goats began to get mastitis infections because of wounds to the udder, the veterinarians said that they had a bad strain of bacteria that was hard to cure and the best thing to do would be to turn them into brush goats.
Sadly, we chose this plan because we could not afford to pay more vet bills and we didn’t want to euthanize them. We loved our goats. We advertised that we had some beautiful friendly goats for someone who needed them to keep the brush down.
I was mortified when it turned out to be the Christies’ who came to pick them up!
I had seen the Christies’ in action several times at the Carl Johnson auction. I was aghast at how ruthless and devoid of feeling that these characters were for the animals that they purchased: usually they were the left overs that no one else wanted at the auction.
The Christies’ should be sentenced for the rest of their days to being penned up [edit]

To this day I feel terrible that I let those guys throw my goats up on that truck and drive away.
George

Peggy Gibson
Guest
Peggy Gibson
5 years ago

Penned up in a wire cage

Shel
Guest
Shel
5 years ago

Is this the same person that has cattle on Myrtle Avenue, down the hill from Hall Rd, next to the slough? Year after year I see cattle dumped out there to die. There is nothing to eat except sedge. They push at the fence trying to get grass. There is surface water almost year round that they are standing/laying in and after a rain sometimes they are standing almost up to their knees in muck and water. You can see that they are just skin and bones. Out in all sorts of weather. I guess they drink the surface water. They don’t get any supplemental feed, just what they can find in the field. The dead ones just lay out there and rot with buzzards trying to get a little meal … there’s not much! Who ever owns those cattle (I’ve been told it is Christie and no one cares) needs to be fined heavily and the cattle taken. That person should never be allowed to have cattle! This is cruelty to animals. I grew up on a cattle ranch and in an area with lots of livestock. I have never seen such neglect in all my life!

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Shel

First, there is good feed there. Second, they go into the ditches for tasty bits. Third in 40 years of driving past those field, I have never seen a single cow pushing at a fence. Nor seen a dead animal. And it’s not sedge grass. It’s a reed (juncus?) that my goats have eliminated from my place because they like it.

This is not southern California where feed lots are called ranches, like Harrison Ranches where fat cows stand in mounds of manure.

Maria
Guest
Maria
5 years ago
Reply to  Shel

WHAT? I’ve never seen a dead cow nor them straining at the fences in that field..what’s your job?

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
5 years ago
Reply to  Shel

You guys may have never seen a dead or starving animal, but the cops sure seem to have found some.

Local
Guest
Local
5 years ago

Thank you guest for offering a balanced opinion

THC
Guest
THC
5 years ago

How many tens is not hundreds of thousands of dollars did this one arrest cost us?

Peggy Gibson
Guest
Peggy Gibson
5 years ago
Reply to  THC

Not enough money is spent to make anything right. Children being left behind, animals being caged or abused, seniors in the streets with no where to sleep because they trusted the stock market for retirement. Think about it. you could be next.

Sick of this crap
Guest
Sick of this crap
5 years ago

This entire thing makes me sick. More proof that our county is as bad as the rest of our ridiculous state. When the rendering plant went out of business because our new yuppie inhabitants of Eureka couldn’t stand the smell we all knew we were in deep shit. There is no where to dispose of dead animals. Redding may have a plant but who can haul a dead animal several hours at the drop of a hat. Once it has begun to decompose there is no moving it. Ray Christie provides a service to this county. I’m sick of this. Lay off Ray and go bust someone for child endangerment. That very seldom happens in this county. It’s disgusting! Everyone of you nosey bastards that issued complaints need to get a life. How about cleaning up your own backyards?

Pointingfingers
Guest
Pointingfingers
5 years ago

Uhoh…correctional department may want to check their own backyard. The swap yard to be exact…. 🙁 🐖

Rememberthis?
Guest
5 years ago

Because everyone seems to have forgotten about this case against Mr. Christie.
http://www.times-standard.com/article/zz/20090416/NEWS/904169551

Lone ranger
Guest
Lone ranger
5 years ago
Reply to  Rememberthis?

Nope ,haven’t forgotten, but I didn’t read anything in THIS ARTICLE about roosters, did you?

Peggy Gibson
Guest
Peggy Gibson
5 years ago
Reply to  Rememberthis?

You can call him Mr. Sorry that is a term of respect. He should be treated as he treated all animals. Rooster-horses-cows -dogs. Good thing I am not in charge of what happens to him.