VALE, Oregon — An Eastern Oregon dairy goat farm is facing hundreds of felony animal abuse charges for the alleged mistreatment of their dairy goats.
Idaho News 6 Senior Reporter Don Nelson spoke with the Malhuer County Sheriff and an animal rights advocate as the case against Grand Barr Dairy gets a court date.
"In my opinion, these are God's creatures, and we as humans are stewards of the animals, and we have a responsibility to take the best care of them that we can," said Malheur County Sheriff Travis Johnson.
Johnson is referring to 239 goats that were removed from the Grand Barr Dairy in February. But the story starts in July of 2025, when a whistleblower contacted the animal rights advocacy group, PETA, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Dan Paden is PETA's Vice President for Legal Advocacy. He explained how the alleged animal abuse issues came to their attention: "An individual who had been working at the dairy, who herself had background working with goats, including in dairy settings... saw cruelty and neglect beyond the pale, was concerned about it, had brought it to the attention of the owners again and again, and said, 'nothing is being done.'"
WATCH: Senior Reporter Don Nelson provides an update on the status of a criminal case regarding alleged animal cruelty in Nyssa.
Senior Reporter Don Nelson asked Sheriff Johnson about that.
"Yes, so late July I went out there. I personally went out there with one of my deputies, and we're able to look around and get a look at everything, all the goats and the facilities, and at that time we made some recommendations to hopefully have them fix a few minor problems that we felt were repairable at that time," recalled Sheriff Johnson.
When asked if the owners acted upon their recommendations, Sheriff Johnson replied, "They did not. That's why we ended up in February, executing a seizure warrant and taking control of those goats at that time."
A Malheur County Grand Jury later handed down an indictment that levied over 400 animal cruelty charges against Taunia and Aaron Barr, the owners of Grand Barr Dairy in Nyssa.
Dan Baden from PETA commented on the significance of the seizure, saying, "Going in and seizing every last farmed animal off of a farm and filing nearly 500 charges is historic."
As far as the 200-plus goats? Sheriff Johnson researched and found an operation in California to temporarily care for them.
When asked how those goats are doing, Sheriff Johnson said, "The goats are improving. They look good. Their coats are looking good, and [I'm] really happy with what they're doing at that operation. Obviously, if you look online, not everybody's happy with some of the decisions I've made, but I think in the end— I've done what is appropriate for the situation."
Taunia Barr and Aaron Barr will appear separately later this month in Malheur County Court on felony counts of first-degree animal neglect, in addition to six charges of second degree animal neglect, a misdemeanor.
