ST. GEORGE — Police are investigating the death of two pregnant cows found shot just off of the Arizona Strip Saturday, both of which were just days away from giving birth to calves.
The Black Angus cows were found lying next to each other approximately 50 yards off of Interstate 15 near the Black Rock Exit, a mile north of the entrance to the Virgin River Gorge.
The land is in Mohave County, Arizona, and is owned by the Bureau of Land Management, which allows grazing by permit.
The animals were discovered at 2 p.m. Saturday by Coleman Stillman, who said he was in the area checking on his animals when he came across the pair that were “within days of calving,” and then called the cows’ owner.
After the call, Natalie Larsen went out to the scene with her husband, and it was clear when they found the animals that they didn’t die right away, “but were stumbling around after they were shot, before they finally fell to the ground where we found them,” she said.
The couple checked on the remaining herd then called the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office to report the incident. A deputy responded and began collecting evidence as part of the investigation, Larsen said.
She said it appears that someone pulled up to the fence at night and by the headlights of their vehicle were able to see the cows grazing close to the fence, and then shot the pair.
“Thankfully Coleman called us and let us know about the incident so that we could go out there, and then we were able to check the rest of the herd then, too,” Larsen said.
Stillman added that aside from the financial loss “of having four cows killed essentially, with the calves, it’s even more disturbing to see that these animals were just shot for no reason and left to suffer.”
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment.
Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to call the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office at 928-753-0753, or toll free at 800-522-4312.
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If it was in Arizona, in Mojave county, it happened on the Arizona Strip not “near” it as the headline indicates.
These acts are very difficult to understand. It would appear obvious that the perpetrator has an extremely low IQ and cannot comprehend the nature and consequences of his/hers/its acts. Regardless, the actions are insidious and insipid leading me to believe there are sub-humans roaming the back hills around us.
The Aliens did it !