One month after King County Regional Animal Services opened an investigation into the conditions at one of Sea Breeze Farm’s pig holding areas, the case has been closed with no concerns, authorities said.

However, community members and a former farm employee think differently. They say that the farm’s animals are constantly loose and in conditions that are not suitable or healthy.

Animal Control Sgt. Tim Anderson said last week that the case, opened on Dec. 30 after sick and dead pigs were reportedly seen at a pig holding site near 119th Avenue and 156th Street, is closed and there is no concern of cruelty or neglect.

“At this point, based on information of the veterinarians who were out there, the officers’ observations, the contact we had with (Sea Breeze Farm owner) George (Page) and his intent to do some farm management programs, we’re going to close the case,” Anderson said last week.

He said Page was told to get in touch with the county’s Farm Management Team to learn about best farm practices. Anderson said that the program can help teach Page how to best care for his animals and the environment.

“There’s always something new to learn,” Anderson said. “We try to educate (animal owners) and get them in compliance.”

According to Anderson, Page was also told to build a shelter for the pigs and have veterinarians look at his animals. Anderson said a “lean-to-type” shelter was built and veterinarians found nothing out of the ordinary.

“There’s no criminal investigation, just education on good farm management practices,” Anderson said.

Animal Control Sgt. Shelby Russell also said that the law only requires the minimum when it comes to shelter and that pain and suffering need to be proven to file any sort of criminal charges. Neither could be proven at the farm.

“The bottom line is we have to prove pain and suffering,” Russell said. “If the animals just aren’t happy, the law says nothing about that. If they’re in good condition, there’s nothing we can do.”

At the onset of the recent investigation, Page said that his pigs do get out on occasion and wander into the woods. He said that some do get lost, and some are sick, and he does his best to care for them. He also said that remains from pigs that likely wandered off were found in the nearby, forested area.

“There was only one pig that was sick. The rest are sassy and fat and fine,” Page said. “It’s quite a large area, and some remains were found. It looked like it had been awhile, and we hadn’t disposed of it properly. We were made aware of it, and we fixed the issue.”

However, after news of the investigation, a former Sea Breeze farm employee who asked to remain anonymous as he is still in contact with Page, told The Beachcomber that he quit his job after seeing the conditions at the farm. The employee worked at Sea Breeze for less than two months.

“I feel obligated not just for the animals, but for the small farms movement to set this right,” the former employee said. “When I got there, they had 40 pigs on a half-acre in mud. The animals were obviously sick when I got there. I treated them all with de-wormer and penicillin. Most had obvious pneumonia.”

The recently departed employee said that multiple pigs were found dead throughout the property and he tried to get shelters built, but it “wasn’t a priority for” Page.

“I felt helpless. He just always said it was a virus that was going around that they had from the piglet farmer and that there was nothing we could do,” the former employee said. “My answer was to keep them warm and dry. I had a three-hour chat with him when I left about why the farm wasn’t worth it. Animal welfare is my number one concern.”

A public records request to King County’s animal service department for reports about the farm yielded six other reports dating back to 2007. Two of the six reports were cruelty investigations that yielded no results. The others were reports of loose cows and animals trespassing on neighboring properties.

Notes from callers recorded in one of the early reports illustrate a picture similar to the most recent investigation. According to the report, a person called in January 2007 to report they had seen three pigs left alone  in the cold with no shelter. A sergeant eventually issued Page a warning to have shelter, food and water for the pigs. The case was closed.

A few months later, another person reported seeing a goat alone and without care. According to the report, Page was “aware of the incident” and discussed the issues at hand with an animal control official. The case was closed with no violations and no action taken.

The remaining four reports date from 2008 to 2013 and involve cows, geese and goats wandering loose on neighboring properties. Reports state that multiple warnings were given to Page before the cases were closed.

At the beginning of the most recent investigation, Page said that he was unaware of any previous issues involving animal control officials. He could not be reached for comment this week.

Page has been farming at Sea Breeze for about 15 years. He sells his pasture-raised meat and dairy products at farmers markets throughout the state and region and at a restaurant next door to IGA called La Boucherie.

“It’s really unfortunate it got to that level (involving animal control),” Page said. “We put up signs saying to contact us if you see any animals you’re concerned about. It takes a lot longer going through those (county) channels.”