Maduna continues to hang onto claim that Horses were poisoned

Maduna claims horses were poisoned

Jason Meduna, owner of 3-Strikes Mustang Ranch, walks out of a Morrill County courtroom Wednesday. Meduna waived a preliminary hearing on 149 counts of animal abuse. Meduna has been accused of starving and neglecting horses and burros on the ranch.

BRIDGEPORT — A Morrill County rancher accused of animal abuse maintains that horses and burros that once lived on his ranch suffer from the effects of poisoning.

However, in testimony Wednesday, a Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality official countered claims by Jason Meduna that water sources on his property had been poisoned.

Meduna, 42, faces 149 counts of animal cruelty, a Class IV felony, and appeared for a preliminary hearing in Morrill County Court on Wednesday. Meduna, represented by Lincoln attorney John Berry, waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

Morrill County authorities charged Meduna after arresting him April 18, alleging that Meduna starved and neglected more than 200 horses boarded on the 3-Strikes Mustang Ranch. Meduna had set up the ranch as a sanctuary for wild horses and burros adopted by Meduna and other owners from the Bureau of Land Management. Meduna owned some horses and burros on the property, while animal rescue groups and private individuals also paid for care and board of horses at the ranch.

Animal rights rescue groups removed 210 horses after Meduna’s arrest. According to an arrest affidavit, Meduna’s arrest followed an investigation that started with claims by Meduna that neighbors had stolen a horse from the ranch. Meduna told officers at that time that he believed that his neighbors were poisoning his horses with cattle feed.

On Tuesday, Meduna reiterated his position that the horses have suffered from poisoning, not from starvation and neglect. He maintains that 80 percent of the horses removed from the ranch “were fine, while 20 percent looked terrible.”

Meduna said that he believes that a lake on his property had been poisoned with arsenic. Law enforcement “did little investigation and offered no help,” he said after he contacted them about the alleged poisoning and the theft of a horse named Rayu. Meduna had contacted several media outlets after the alleged theft of Rayu, asking for the horse’s return.

If his report of Rayu’s theft had been investigated properly, he said, officers would have found the person responsible for the condition of the horses. He still believes that someone poisoned the horses, he said, and that he is not responsible for their poor condition.

“If you find one (the person who stole Rayu), you find the other (the person who poisoned the horses),” he said. “You get to the bottom of it all.”

The Star-Herald has confirmed that Meduna did submit samples to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) from three water sites on the property that he says show high levels of arsenic, and provide evidence that the horses were poisoned. Meduna maintained that high levels of arsenic at specifically one site, a lake on the property that served as a primary source of water for the horses, were not naturally occurring and had to be caused by poisoning.

A supporter of Meduna’s, Ray Field, executive director of the Wild Horse Foundation, has even offered a $25,000 reward to find the person responsible for the poisoning of the horses, Meduna said. The reward offer has been verified on Field’s Web site.

However, Brian McManus, a NDEQ public information officer, confirmed that the agency had obtained its own samples from the property after being contacted by a citizen and submitting private test results. McManus said that the NDEQ contacted Meduna last week and reported its findings to him.

“We certainly can’t verify the assertion of poisoning,” McManus said. In its testing, McManus said the NDEQ did find that one of the lakes tested above “chronic levels” of arsenic for surface water standards that apply to aquatic life. The standards are set to address possible polluters versus natural conditions, McManus said.

He said that the lake, which had levels of arsenic at 58 parts per billion, tested above the 16 parts per billion for standards that apply to aquatic life, but below “acute levels” of 340 parts per billion.

“The NDEQ doesn’t have standards that address the feeding of livestock,” he said. While the results would test above drinking water standards for arsenic that are set for municipal water sources — with acceptable levels being up to 10 parts per billion — he said, “you are looking at apples and oranges when you are talking about livestock drinking from it. (Drinking water standards) are conservative numbers to be highly protective of public health.”

Also, McManus noted, officials notified Meduna that levels of arsenic in the water sources are consistent with natural conditions in the area.

“The standards wouldn’t apply in this case because (the level of arsenic) is caused by natural conditions.”

The lake with the highest levels of arsenic is in a closed basin area, which means there are no streams or rivers that feed the lake area. McManus said that Sandhill lakes have variable levels of arsenic, because of the underlying groundwater conditions. He said the NDEQ specifically noted in its reporter that in 1982, a survey from the University of Nebraska Conservation and Survey Division, drilled a test hole in 1982 a mile west of the ranch. That geologic survey located a 25-foot thick ash bed at 40 feet below the surface.

“Volcanic ash typically contains high concentrations of metal,” McManus said, adding that it is the NDEQ’s conclusion that the volcanic ash has resulted in the levels of arsenic found in the water sources on Meduna’s property.

While Meduna’s lawyer did not comment on the allegations of poisoning, Berry said that Meduna “is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

Berry said that Meduna and defense lawyers have not seen records or evidence in the case.

“We are looking forward to finding out as much as we can about the charges against Mr. Meduna.”

Berry said that the involvement of various rescue organizations and other agencies has “complicated the matter.” Meduna said that he believes those organizations and agencies “are after one thing — money. It’s all about making money.”

Meduna is scheduled to appear on July 14, 1:30 p.m., in Morrill County District Court.

Morrill County Prosecutor Jean Rhodes said she would not comment on the case, including Meduna’s claims about arsenic poisoning.

Star-Herald
By: MAUNETTE LOEKS, Staff Reporter
Published: Thursday, June 18, 2009 4:16 AM CDT

http://www.starherald.com/articles/2009/06/18/news/local_news/doc4a39b9df58adc678711430.txt