Deputies responding to call of abused pig arrest local man for alleged drug possession

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Officers responding to a complaint of pig abuse arrested a Chimacum man after authorities said he was found with nearly 3 ounces of methamphetamine in his possession.

James Robert McKay IV, 46, made his first appearance in Jefferson County Superior Court last week on a felony count of possession of a controlled substance.

According to the probable cause report filed in the case, sheriff deputies and animal control went to the property where McKay was living on West Valley Road with a warrant to search the home and outbuildings for veterinary records and receipts for medication and animal feed.

Once in McKay’s home, officers saw what appeared to be methamphetamine.

The search was immediately stopped “and investigators backed out of the house,” according to court documents.

Officers returned with an amended search warrant  and seized a prescription container with McKay’s name on it that contained meth.

A pink eyeglasses container was discovered with four baggies inside  it that held what appeared to be meth. A vial containing an unknown liquid was also found.

In McKay’s bedroom, authorities allege a plastic bag was found that contained different-colored substances, according to court documents. 

Inside a zip-up bag, officers found a digital scale, a plastic bag that contained a white residue, a plastic container with brown residue, and another bag with blue-tinted sugar cubes wrapped in tinfoil.

Authorities believed the sugar cubes and the plastic vial contained LSD. It was sent to the Washington State Crime lab for analysis.

The crystalline substance that was found in the house, which field tested positive as meth, was also sent to the crime lab for testing.

The package containing the suspected meth weighed 2.69 ounces, according to court documents.

The pig that prompted the police response was found on the property in what appeared to be an old foundation to a building.

The earlier complaint had said a hog had intentionally been put in a pit and was sick, malnourished, and in need of veterinary care. 

The pig weighed about 300 to
400 pounds, according to a sheriff’s office estimate.

Deputies said it looked like the hog had no water, food, or bedding in the 6-foot-deep pit.

Officers nicknamed the hog “Clarice.”

Detective Sergeant Brett Anglin retrieved a tractor from his home to retrieve the animal, and it was hoisted with a sling out of the concrete-walled pit and turned over to Central Valley Animal Rescue.

The animal abuse case will be forwarded to the prosecutor upon completion, according to the sheriff’s office.

Conviction on the drug possession charge can result in maximum prison term of five years and a $10,000 fine.

At McKay’s court appearance last week, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Julie St. Marie asked for bail to be set at $10,000, and noted “It’s not the crime of the century.”

Still, the amount of drugs seized was notable, she added, and McKay had a history of 14 arrest warrants.

Though the most recent was from 2012, she added: “There’s a real concern that he will continue to disobey the court’s orders.”

Scott Charlton, an attorney speaking on behalf of McKay, said McKay had been living at a family member’s home for many, many years. A lower bail of $5,000 was appropriate, he said, and Superior Court Judge Keith Harper agreed.