Jay Parker, a Scott County man who has been charged with 379 counts of animal cruelty and two charges of theft of property, surrendered to authorities in LeFlore County on October 9. Parker was charged with knowingly receiving stolen property.
After being booked into the Leflore County Jail, Parker was later released on a $30,000 bond.
An investigation by special rangers of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and investigators with the Arkansas Agriculture Department resulted in Parker’s arrest in May.
Special Ranger Bart Perrier led TSCRA’s portion of the investigation with the assistance of fellow Special Ranger Kenneth Wadsworth. Billy Black, Chief of Law Enforcement for the Arkansas Agriculture Department led the investigation there.
According to Perrier, Parker allegedly entered into a one-year contract with a Texas rancher to care for the victim’s 435 cows and 61 calves. Near the end of the contract period in the fall of 2018, the victim discovered that a substantial portion of the cattle under Parker’s care were dead or unaccounted for.
According to the report by investigators, Parker sold 54 head of cattle at the Leflore County Livestock Auction in Wister, Oklahoma.
In Arkansas, it is believed that he sold 29 head of the victim’s cattle at the Waldron Livestock Market. Numerous other cattle allegedly died due to poor living conditions and willful neglect by Parker. As a result, two charges for theft of leased property over $25,000, and 379 counts of cruelty to animals were filed in Scott County, Arkansas. He was arrested on those charges May 20, 2019, and was subsequently freed on bond.
If convicted, the one charge in Oklahoma could result in a sentence of 3-10 years in prison and significant fines. In Arkansas, the two theft charges carry a penalty of six years each, and every animal cruelty charge could land Parker in prison for up to a year.
TSCRA would like to thank Special Rangers Bart Perrier, Kenneth Wadsworth and John Cummings as well as Chief of Law Enforcement Billy Black of the Arkansas Agriculture Department for their tremendous combined efforts on the case.
Parker pled not guilty in a Scott County, Arkansas court in June. His trial date is set for
