Two cattle were killed and another injured by gunfire Sunday near the border of Delta and Montrose counties in a crime local law enforcement is calling “reckless” and “sad.”
The Montrose County Sheriff’s Office believes the shooting took place between 4 and 10 a.m. on Dec. 29 on BLM Land. The area is near a public access road where local ranchers with state permits let their cattle graze.
“There's a lot of years of breeding and animal husbandry that goes into each of these animals, and it's a shame when they're stolen or go missing or are recklessly killed like this,” said Todd Inglee, Colorado’s State Brand Commissioner.
The incident marks the second major cattle crime to happen in the region after ranchers reported in late November and early December that an estimated 187 cattle – most of which were young calves – had gone missing.
“We can’t say they’re connected and we can’t say they’re not,” Montrose County Sheriff Sergeant Chuck Searcy said. The missing cattle are collectively valued between $300,000 and $400,000, taking a major toll on local producers.
“Everybody's feeling the inflation. And then when you have these ranchers who are feeding Colorado and they're taking these financial hits, it's hard to stay in business. It's hard to keep producing good quality beef when you're losing this amount of money,” Searcy said.
Searcy says the two cattle killed over the weekend would have produced calves in the future, marking a significant loss for the rancher’s business overall.
“Two or three cattle, it doesn't seem like a lot, but the value is close to $10,000 and that’s just the cost of the cow right now,” Searcy said. “It hurts the pocketbook for sure.”
If caught, whoever shot the cattle will face felony charges including criminal mischief and animal abuse.
“This hits home a lot more. It's not just the loss of the cattle, it's that people are just killing animals to kill animals. And so we need to make sure that that stops,” Searcy said.
Inglee tells CPR News that livestock killings are sometimes perpetrated by someone the rancher knows or lives close to.
One such case took place earlier this year in Larimer County when 37-year-old Michael Hester shot and killed a group of cattle that had wandered onto his property west of Fort Collins.
“I think a lot of times people get angry, they get mad,” Inglee said. “I get phone calls about fence law issues and people want to take it out on the animals, and I have to say, the cows are just doing what cows do, right? Don’t take it out on the animals.”
Hester pleaded guilty to several class four felonies including three counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and three counts of animal theft in that case. He’ll be sentenced in January.
“He was just in a fit of anger and rage that they were on his property and he shot them. There's not really any real good explanation behind what makes people do that,” Inglee said.
It’s still too early in the investigation to know whether the Montrose case is similar to Hester’s, but Searcy said the community is feeling anxious.
“Ranchers are on edge right now, and I don't blame 'em. Keeping an extra ear and eye open,” he said. “But then at the same time, it makes you second guess and wonder about your neighbors, about your friends, about people who are running the cattle next to you. You start questioning everybody. Not necessarily in person, but just in your thoughts like, well, could they be responsible for this? And so it puts a hiccup in everybody's operation and it's a shame.”
The recent crimes won’t impact the upcoming National Western Stock Show, but Inglee says the attention does put a spotlight on the ranching industry and provides a chance for education.
“It’s a great opportunity to learn and to see one: why the livestock industry is still important to our state, and two: why livestock laws are critical to those producers who own and raise those animals,” Inglee said.
Several agencies are involved in both investigations including local law enforcement, the state’s Brand Inspection Division, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service.
If you know something about either the missing cattle or the ones that were shot, you’re asked to call the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office. You can also anonymously report any information about potential suspects to Crime Stoppers at 970-249-8500.
