A 45-year-old northern Lehigh County man has been charged with four counts of cruelty to animals for allegedly shooting four piglets owned by his neighbor back in October.
The neighbor and farmer who sustained the loss is Todd Hedrick of Hedrick Family Farms and Produce. Charged was Richard William Anthony Jr., who lives in the 5000 block of Bluebird Drive in the New Tripoli area of Lowhill Township.
WFMZ knocked on Anthony's door Saturday, but no one answered. The six-month-old pigs weighed about 70 pounds. Anthony told police the piglets had been causing damage to his yard and property for months, according to court documents.
"We're going to be fencing in the entire property to hopefully ensure that nothing like this happens again," Hedrick said.
A preliminary hearing on the case has been scheduled for 2:45 p.m. Feb. 17 before Magisterial District Judge Rod R. Beck, 106 S Walnut St.,Slatington. Hedrick says he hopes for a peaceful outcome.
"We're neighbors, we're not enemies," Hedrick said. "At least, I don't think we are."
Police were contacted by Lisa Marie Yandersits, the defendant's spouse, late in the afternoon on Oct. 18, the day the pigs were shot, court records say.
Hedrick told police he saw two of his pigs in his driveway outside their pen when he came home that day. He also noticed one of them had been shot in its rear left leg. He got those pigs into their pen and began to search for the other three, court records say.
On Anthony's property, Hedrick found a third piglet, which had a gunshot wound to its lower abdomen. He told police he could not find his other two piglets.
Hedrick asked the state police officer who responded to the call to kill the wounded piglet because it was suffering. The officer obliged him by shooting the pig, according to court documents.
Hedrick told police he was raising the five pigs to be butchered and estimated each was worth $700. He said customers already had posted deposits to purchase the meat.
Hedrick said he can't sell the wounded pig that survived for meat. With three other pigs killed, he put his monetary loss at $2,800.
"Hopefully…some kind of justice is served to them," Hedrick said. "At least just the restitution for the pigs that were lost."
On Oct. 19, Yandersits, who first called in the shooting, was interviewed in the Fogelsville state police station. She also complained the pigs continuously were coming onto her property and digging up her yard, according to court documents.
She said she and Anthony tried chasing them out of the yard but they came back 30 minutes later. She said her spouse grabbed his 30-06 rifle and fired five shots at the pigs, killing two of them, according to court documents.
Anthony, who also was interviewed on Oct. 19, told police he first fired one warning shot, but the did not scare off the piglets, so he fired four shots at them.
With the help of his wife, Anthony put the bodies of the two dead pigs into his truck and drove them along Mountain Road, to a spot where he dumped them into the woods along the side of the road, according to court documents.
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