Published: September 23, 2008 11:45 pm         

Wakita man receives prison time in animal abuse case

MEDFORD — A Wakita man was sentenced to prison Tuesday morning on seven felony counts of animal abuse and two misdemeanor counts of leaving a carcass in a well, spring, pond or stream.

George Wesley Gilchrist was set to go to trial in Grant County but entered a blind plea to the charges in late June. A pre-sentencing investigation was ordered by Associate District Judge Jack Hammontree, who sentenced Gilchrist to jail and prison time Tuesday morning.

Assistant District Attorney Steven Young said Gilchrist was sentenced to five years in prison for each of the seven felonies, with three years suspended. He also received one-year jail terms to be served in the Grant County Jail for each of the misdemeanors and had a sentence for a felony bogus check charge accelerated to two years in Depart-ment of Corrections custody. All sentences are to be served concurrently.

Each felony cruelty to animals charge carries a punishment of up to $500, up to five years in prison or one year in county jail. The misdemeanor counts are punishable by county jail terms of one year and/or up to a $500 fine.

The case came to light in December 2006, after Grant County Sheriff’s Office deputies discovered the carcasses of about 34 domestic animals and a number of other decaying carcasses and bones at Gilchrist’s property, about nine miles north and four miles west of Medford, according to the affidavit filed with the case.

Two mules were found dead in the animals’ only water source. Deputies also found two dead pigs and two other pig carcasses, according to the affidavit. Six horses were seized from the property and several others were euthanized.