Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
COLFAX — Pullman area rancher Marcus Jacobson, 71, is facing two years in jail after failing to sell his cattle herd as punishment for two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty.
Jacobson was found guilty last month after two cows were noticed to be in poor health on his property near LaCrosse.
Following his conviction, the rancher was prohibited from owning animals of any kind and was given two weeks to sell his herd or face jail time.
A court hearing on Friday, July 1 revealed that Jacobson still had cattle in his possession, and he was subsequently booked into the county jail on Wednesday, July 6.
Jacobson’s attorney told the court that Jacobson was in the midst of selling his herd, which is divided between ranches on Rock Springs Road close to LaCrosse and Kirkendahl Road, south of Pullman.
Jacobson’s ranching methods have been met with legal trouble before.
Three of the rancher’s stray cows have been struck by motorists, with the most recent collision seriously injuring a Pullman man in September of 2020.
This crash landed the rancher in jail for two days with another 88 days of suspended jail time if Jacobson could prove that his herd was being fenced in properly.
Jacobson’s herd was the subject of several additional complaints, and his subsequent failure to keep his cattle contained safely resulted in him serving the rest of his three month suspended sentence.
The Washington Department of Ecology has also fined Jacobson in 2010 and again in 2018 for as much as $24,000 for polluting the South Fork of the Palouse River with his feedlot.
Reid Thompson is an intern reporter at the Whitman County Gazette. Reid is enrolled at Syracuse University, where he studies journalism and international relations.
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