CANYON CITY The Grant County Sheriffs Office seized 50 head of cattle from two sites last weekend in the ongoing investigation into cow starvation at remote Flag Prairie.

The seizures follow the arrest last Wednesday night, March 7, of Peter R. Rawlins, 51, and his son, Austin Rawlins, 24.

Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer has referred charges of first-degree aggravated animal abuse, first-degree animal neglect, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence to the District Attorneys Office.

Palmer said two search warrants were served in the investigation, one last Friday at the Canyon City-area property owned by Pete Rawlins and the other on Saturday at Flag Prairie in southeastern Grant County, where Rawlins has a cow camp.

Officials removed 19 head of cattle from the Canyon City ranch, but one cow escaped through a barbed wire fence onto national forest land. That cow remains at large.

Deputies were aided by area ranchers and members of the Grant County Snowballers in hauling cattle from Flag Prairie via muddy and snow-clogged forest roads.

Palmer said 31 head were seized there and hauled out by a goose-neck trailer, towed behind an Oregon State Snowmobile snowcat.

The investigation at Flag has turned up 12 dead cattle, seven on national forest land and five on private land. Two of the latter may have been dead for some time, perhaps before winter set in. Three were more recent, and may have died within the past week, Palmer said.

The cattle were moved to a safe location and were being screened by a veterinarian.

Meanwhile, local ranchers are spearheading a drive to collect hay to feed the seized cows. They will drop hay off at noon Tuesday, March 13, at the west end of the old Oregon Pine millsite in John Day, and a truck will haul the feed to the impound site.