Farmer Who Shot Cows Sentenced

An Atlantic County farmer accused of animal cruelty after he shot two cows this summer has thrown in the legal towel.

Harry Jacobs, 73, pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of causing a public nuisance. The Hammonton man said he agreed to the plea deal because he wanted the matter resolved.

The animal cruelty charges were filed by the county chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Those charges were dismissed earlier this month when SPCA officials failed to appear for a court hearing, but the group refiled its complaint this week.

The group said Jacobs was negligent. But the farmer said he had to kill the 800-pound cows to keep them from wandering onto a stretch of the Atlantic City Expressway in Hamilton Township.

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