if a cow's dying in a field--(right/wrong question from non-cow owner)

[emvickrey]

Several years ago I ran across the same thing. I contacted the sherrif department and they said it isn't their job to contact the humane society. I did that and they said they don't handle livestock. I contacted a person living nearby and was told that the owner is aware of his dying cattle and just lets them die. It was a horrible site to see them suffering till death. Nothing deserves to die like that. They should have been shot to end their suffering but he just left them out there with no feed and the stream was being used as a dump so they had no fresh water. In my opinion, that man should have spent jail time for the neglect and death of those animals.

If I had known or was told to contact the department of Agriculture about it I would have. They are more likely to do something.

 

[Katy]

OK...I have to retract my last statement.....she sent me a pm.

 

[Bleenie]

He should have finished her, that's just not right. If she was out there that long I am sure he would have known about it.

 

[emvickrey]

I wish I had read all the posts on this thread before I responded. Not everybody does things the same way. Different parts of the country have different rules and laws as to how things are done. And people are different as there are people that care about their animals and investments and there are those that don't. I took this thread to be asking for peoples opinion on what to do. Too bad it turned into a heated discussion.

 

[Haviris]

Welll, I would say it's not typically normal. Since it isn't obvious who the pasture belongs to it's possibly he didn't know about it til it was to late. I am in Arkansas to, never lived anywhere else, so I won't pretend to know how they do things anywhere else. I know a guy that owns property all over town, and keeps cattle on several different places (or did at one time) and most likely rarely saw his cattle, they generally only got messed w/ when he'd gather up the calves to take them to the sale. Generally they did alright, and I think if there was a problem he knew about he'd do something.

How much a person does generally depends on what they breed cattle for, show people are generally going to put in more. My parents have both own cattle (and when I say we I'm going to be refering to my parents cattle, because I'm generally their go to helper), they've generally ran purebred bulls w/ mixed cows, bull calves and any non keeper heifers are taken to the sale barn, the bull is w/ the cows all year bulls don't last long because we keep heifers back and don't want him breeding his daughters, for most generally a cow lasts as long as she's productive, most are sold because they came up open, not because they broke down. In our case the oldest cow (beef cows) we have is in her teens and just had a beautiful little bull calf! She missed a year or two, but has done her job for atleast the last two years. She's showing her age, but I'd imagine anyone would after popping out a calf every year since they were 3. I also own a beef bred steer that's in his teens, and very fat and healthy! In our case I'm the go to girl w/ any problems, and I get to take care of them. We have had two cows down that I can remember, both were calving injuries, one wasn't down long, the other if I remember right was down about 2 weeks. If she'd be were people could see her they may have assumed she wasn't being cared for, we'd take her feed and hay, the feed was cleaned up pretty quickly, and the hay wouldn't last long either, we also flipped the cow over a couple times aday, but most care was given after dark. She didn't die and eventually got up, but ended up w/ a perminate limp.

Different people have different opinions about how much they will do or spend on a cow/calf. Most I know will care for a down cow, and if they won't are willing to shoot it atleast. Many don't want to deal w/ bottle calves, either because it's not worth the money they put into it, or they just don't want to be inconvenienced, so they will be taken to a sale or given away. I don't know what my parents would do w/out me, but right now they just give them to me.

So I'd say, no the situation is not typical, BUT getting someone to help when you get involved is generally not that easy either, I know I couldn't get anything done if I had the same situation (and it was neglect, not the owner just not knowing).

 

[cassie]

Quote:
Oh I dunno. I had an angus cross cow that was well over 20 when she died and a neighbor had two hereford cows that were pushing 30 when they gave up the ghost. He acquired the cows when he bought the property. Caring for the two cows for the rest of their lives was a condition of the sale.

 

[buck-wild-chick]

Maybe he just didn't notice the cow was down or he was just plain cruel?
I personally would have let him know that I thought something was wrong with one of his cows and he either would have said thank you or kiss my....

 

[txchickie]

Funny (well, not FUNNY) story ahead.....


We had a cow down, hadn't had a calf or anything, she just got down. We assumed the bull had broken her back or whatever. She appeared to be paralyzed and wasn't getting up, so after trying to drag her and trying to make her walk, my husband decided to go ahead and shoot her. This went on for about 2-3 days before he finally walked out with the gun. He walks up to her, shoots her in the head, and she jumps up and runs off

Girlfriend lived with the bullet in her head and went on to give us another calf

Moral of the story----sometimes the best thing to do is leave them alone!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Quote:
Ok, I read to this post and had to comment. Cows calving in the snow is a perfectly acceptable practice. As long as the calf gets up and nurses, he'll be fine. Many cattle producers don't like to "baby" their animals, because they're animals. They're equipped to live outside without (much) human intervention. As long as the cow calves with out problems and the calf gets up to nurse, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the owner doing nothing to assist.

I get irritated when people say 'Oh, look at the poor *insert species here* standing out in the snow with snow on its back!" Well, animals are meant to live outside. They have protective coats. We actually do them more harm when we lock them up tight in a barn, because that creates all types of respiratory issues. As long as an animal has some sort of windbreak, they'll be fine.

And no interaction...well, what type of interaction would you like to see on a cattle farm? Does the farmer/rancher need to personally pet each cow every day?

And beef cattle absolutely can live to 20 or older!

As far as the original post, no self-respecting animal owner should let an animal lay there and die without doing something to put it out of its misery. If in fact the owner knew the cow was dying, he should have done something about it.

 

[chickenzoo]

If I saw a cow laying down in the same spot, all day into the evening, the first day I'd be slightly concerned, second day I would be concerned their might be a problem and keep an eye out for anyone around that might know something, third day I'd be very concerned and try to find someone, especially if I could now see the animal was in distress and perhaps was not noticed. All animals have the right to be put out of their suffering and in a rural area it might be easy for the owner to miss the downed animal..........