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Seized From Seffner Couple, Goats On Path To Recovery

Tribune photo by JULIE BUSCH

Sheriff's deputies care for the 50 LaMancha goats taken from Larry and Rae Lynn Smart last week.

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By KEITH MORELLI and JOSH POLTILOVE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 6, 2008

TAMPA - The 50 LaMancha goats, large and small, old and young, are enjoying the full spa treatment these days. They are living large because of all the lush green grass and the once-a-day treats out of a feed bag.

The sun is hot, but there is some shade. Water is abundant and the kids get their daily medicine that tastes like butterscotch.

Things couldn't be much better for a herd of goats seized last week from conditions that were described as deplorable.

"There was no grass, not a green weed even," said Hillsborough County sheriff's Cpl. Bruce Harrell as he got ready to feed the eager goats. "They were literally skin and bones."

Goats milled around him, nuzzling him for feed at the sheriff's compound for abused, lost or otherwise seized livestock.

A week after investigators seized 55 goats, 35 dogs and seven cats from a Seffner couple's property, the couple has been charged with animal cruelty, Hillsborough deputies say, and the goats are making a steady comeback.

"I've looked through our records," said Harrell, who supervises the sheriff's agricultural unit and oversees the new livestock pen. "The most we've ever had at one time is eight."

Meanwhile the couple from whom the animals were seized are being investigated by the county's code enforcement inspectors, who gave the pair a week to fix more than 20 violations uncovered on July 30.
Larry and Rae Lynn Smart were charged Tuesday with six counts of animal cruelty – one for each goat that needed to be euthanized and one for the herd overall, Harrell said.

The surviving goats are being held at the sheriff's impound facility in Lithia. Some of the goats were so emaciated upon arrival that their bones could be seen through their skin, Harrell said, but within a week most appeared to be on the mend. Some ribs and hip bones still could be seen today, and some had patchy fur, but they had all gained weight, he said. All had been given medicine and feed and given water, something they were not used to, he said.

Some were so weak that they had to be carried to trucks to bring them to their new home. Putting up with the cloven-hoofed herd is not cheap, he said.

The first week alone, the goats cost about $1,100 to feed and medicate, Harrell said. The goats ultimately will wind up costing the department about $4,500 to $5,000, roughly half the entire year's budget for animal upkeep, he said.

The goats will stay here for another three weeks until their medication is over. Then they will be separated into three or four groups and sold at several public auctions.

Hillsborough County Animal Services spokeswoman Marti Ryan said the Smarts had relinquished custody of all the animals seized except for one dog, and investigators are petitioning for custody of that animal.

"We have it," she said. "They want it back."

"They did sign everything else over," Ryan said, which clears the way for the sheriff's office to auction the goats to recoup some of the expense of keeping them.

The livestock pen was opened earlier this summer and was almost immediately put to use with a few escaped cattle. The pen is on 11 acres of pasture and wood on the north side of the Walter C. Heinrich Practical Training Center, off State Road 39, south of Plant City.

Deputies never expected a goat herd of this size here.

The $350,000 holding pen is a place to keep lost, injured or abused livestock, and most guests are cattle and horses.

"I am now a goatherder," Deputy Lowell Cain said as he prepared to tote a 50-pound bag of feed to one pen.

Animal services investigators served a search warrant July 30 on property owned by the Smarts, 2005 S. Parsons Ave. in Seffner, and found the yard where the animals were kept covered in ankle-deep goat manure.

The dogs were kept in stacked rusty kennels. The animals did not have access to clean food or water, investigators said.

Investigators say the Smarts are animal breeders who advertised in local newspapers.

Rae Lynn Smart inadvertently tipped off authorities when she took two dogs to Animal Services to have them euthanized. The canines were in poor condition, investigators said.

The Smarts' home was also in a decrepit state, investigators said. The roof of the house was caved in, and several broken-down vehicles and large appliances littered the lawn. Goats lived in the house, which had no running water. Feces covered the floors, and junk was stacked against the walls.

A day after the animal services investigators seized the animals, county code enforcement inspectors cited the Smarts on 24 code violations dealing with electrical wiring, hazardous, overgrown and unsanitary conditions.

A code enforcement official said inspectors will return to the property next week to see if the Smarts are making an effort to comply with the county codes.

Jim Blinck, manager of code enforcement operations, said the goal is not to kick the Smarts out of their home.

"The goal is compliance," he said. "We don't want to throw them out. We want them to have a safe and sanitary dwelling."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691 or jpoltilove@tampatrib.com.

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