by Chet Nagle at Chet Nagle’s Now Hear This
On April 10 and 11, dairy farmers Ethan Wentworth of York County and Rusty Herr of Lancaster County were arrested and jailed in their county prisons. They are still in jail.
The arrests were made without a court hearing or trial or an option to post bail. What did they do to be sentenced to 30 days in jail? They ran a company called NoBull Solutions that uses a portable ultrasound machine to check on pregnant cows for dairy farmers that don’t already have one – like the Amish farmers in Lancaster and York Counties who shy away from all electronics, automobiles and ultrasound machines.
Is this another phase of Pennsylvania’s vendetta against Amish farmers?
Brook Duer, a lawyer with the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, made statements to the media in an effort to tamp down the outcry. He said there have been numerous complaints against NoBull Solutions for practicing veterinary care without a license. But he didn’t mention those complaints were filed by the Veterinary Board four years ago! Fines were imposed and paid. NoBull Solutions modified their practice and went back to work. No new complaint was brought forth before the two dairy farmers were arrested and hauled off to jail.
Duer added, “Certainly the processes most attorneys are familiar with in regards to civil contempt are all there and were followed. There was plenty of due process here. It’s an unfortunate result, it’s probably best summarized by this is what happens when you disagree with something at some point in a state process…”