Not too far from us is a property on a major road we checked out but rejected due to the house being a structural mess and the five acres being true wetlands (one of the local rivers runs through the middle).
Anyway, in the last few months someone bought the property, which had turned into a mold palace and is currently overstocking illegally. Due to the river issue, very few animals of any kind could be raised on the land. But there are currently more than a dozen sheep, half a dozen alpacas, two dozen or more poultry, five calves, a dozen or so goats, and a few llamas, all on five acres of wetlands. There were some fencing issues, although the loose animals did not make it out to the street. They did get hay for the animals, but it’s of poor quality and the sheep are wool breaking due to stress. And the sheep are not a breed that sheds, so it’s pretty bad. The calves are very skinny and so are the alpacas.
But they fixed the fencing and the animals have hay and water. It’s not a situation where you can file a cruelty or neglect complaint. They’re just bad at “having animals” and some might die, but the animals just might not. Sometimes animals can get along for years on bad hay and generally poor forage. And overstocking is a relative thing to most people.
The reason I’m finally writing this up even in passing is that the wetlands police are pretty ostentatiously not shutting them down or taking their stock away. Even though with the overstocking literally in the flow path of a river, there is an actual case for wetlands policing. Things are changing in this county, I guess.
I’m not sure what it means for the future. And we’ll see in a few months if it’s just a delay in processing.
Food, Farming and Faith in Snohomish County 