More than 40 pigs have been trapped and euthanized inthe last four months near a quarantined farm in Carroll County, and officials said there could be more.
“There could be 10, there could be 40,” said Nicky Ratliff, executive director of the county?s Humane Society.
This week, 17 pigs were found, killed and taken to the Maryland Department of Agriculture lab to be tested for diseases. The pigs were found near the 112-acre Marston Road farm owned by Carroll Schisler Sr., 60, and his son, Carroll Schisler Jr., 34.
The latest pigs were seen moving on and off the quarantined property, but county officials did not go onto the property, Ratliff said. She said she could not tell if these pigs were once from the Schisler farm, where 100 pigs recently went missing.
The pigs have to be euthanized because the county doesn?t have space to house all the pigs while they are being tested, Ratliff said.
So far, about 40 percent of the pigs found in and around the farm have tested positive for trichinosis, a parasitic disease that can cause nausea, diarrhea, heart and breathing problems, and, in severe cases, death.
Since the Schisler?s farm was quarantined in April, 42 pigs have been found and killed, said Kate Wagner, spokeswoman for the state Agriculture Department.
Dozens more have been killed in the past year and a half by county and state officials and residents hunting the feral animals, Ratliff said.
The Schislers face charges of animal cruelty, feeding garbage to swine and selling contaminated meat, according to court documents. They appeared in federal court earlier this month to explain the disappearance of the pigs, but both denied knowing how they left the farm.
