A 41-year-old Tennessee dairy farmer paid $871 in fines and court costs Monday for bringing a sick cow to a New Holland livestock auction last month.

One investigator called the matter the "worst case of neglect I've ever seen."

Jack R. Aiken, of Telford, Tenn., was arrested Monday at New Holland Sales Stables after a district judge issued a warrant for a summary cruelty-to-animals charge filed in March.

District Judge Rodney H. Hartman imposed the maximum $750 fine and $121 in court costs against Aiken because he failed to respond to a mailed citation.

New Holland police arrested Aiken Monday when he returned to the sales stable property at 101 W. Fulton St.

Pennell Hopkins, a Pennsylvania SPCA equine investigator, and Keith Mohler, a humane officer for Farm Sanctuary of Pennsylvania, launched an investigation when an anonymous caller contacted them after seeing the sick cow in Aiken's trailer.

"It was the worst case of neglect I've ever seen," Hopkins said. "And that's saying a lot."

Aiken transported the cow from Tennessee to the borough March 5 in an open trailer, and he told investigators he didn't know the animal was sick, Hopkins said.

"The cow was missing large patches of hair over about a quarter of her body," Hopkins said. "She had what is referred to as a 'manure coat' on her left hind from lying in manure for extended periods of time.

"Her right-eye area — there was no remnant of her eye — was a dried-blood-and-fresh-blood mass of puss, filth and debris about 6 inches in circumference."

A veterinarian at the auction recommended the cow be euthanized. Mohler and Hopkins had the cow examined a second time before it was put down. Hopkins charged Aiken March 6 with cruelty to animals.

E-mail: blovelace@lnpnews.com