Jury Reaches Guilty Verdict in Lattins Goat Abuse Case

Posted

A jury found Carolyn and Debbie Lattin guilty Friday of second-degree animal cruelty charges.

The case went to the jury Thursday following a four-day trial. The Lattins are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 2 in Thurston County District Court.

Second-degree animal cruelty is a gross misdemeanor. The could be sentenced to up to 364 days in jail, and fined up to $5,000.

The Lattins operate the popular Lattins Country Cider Mill and Farm on Rich Road, which is both a working farm and a community attraction. Eighteen goats were removed from the farm in mid-June because they showed signs of hoof scald, sometimes referred to as hoof rot.



Their attorney, Justin Kover, argued during the trial that the Lattins took good care of their goats, and tried every medicine available.

Jeffery Lippert, Thurston County’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor, argued that despite the Lattins’ long history of farmers, they still couldn’t take care of their goats.

“When they showed signs of hoof scald and limping, they didn’t do anything about it,” Lippert told the jury on Thursday. “That’s a problem, that’s a lack of standard of care.”