Felon accused of running animal-*** farm in Whatcom County
A convicted drug smuggler and horse trainer appeared before a federal magistrate on Friday after his arrest for allegedly operating a rural Whatcom County business that catered to people who want to have *** with animals.
A Whatcom County man's friendship and aggressive support for a man convicted in the infamous Enumclaw horse-*** case led to his arrest this week for allegedly operating a ********** farm just south of the Canadian border, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Douglas Spink, 39, a one-time dot.com millionaire, convicted drug smuggler and horse trainer, was quietly living on rural property south of Sumas when he connected with James Tait, who was in a Tennessee jail on a ********** charge.
Tait had earlier been convicted of trespassing in 2005 in the Enumclaw case, in which a Gig Harbor man died after having *** with a horse.
The two men's communications set in motion an investigation that resulted in Spink's arrest Wednesday at the Sumas farm for suspicion of violating his federal probation for drug smuggling. Federal prosecutors and Whatcom County sheriff's officials say Spink also allowed people to come to the farm and have *** with animals.
He was "promoting tourism of this nature for **********," Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo said Friday.
When county deputies and federal investigators searched the property they found videotapes that included images of a man, who was visiting the property, having *** with several large-breed dogs.
The man, a 51-year-old British national, was arrested for investigation of four counts of **********, Elfo said. He is being held in the Whatcom County Jail in lieu of $150,000, Elfo said.
