ST. GEORGE — A $7,500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the parties involved in shooting and killing a cow that was still nursing a young calf in Juab County last week.
The Juab County Sheriff’s Office responded to West Meadow Lane in Juab County west of Nephi on a report of a cow that was shot sometime between late afternoon Feb. 17 and noon the following day.
The cow was grazing with its young calf in tow in a pasture on private property when the incident took place.
The area is known locally as “the west fields area,” Juab County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy, Brent Pulver told St. George News.
Deputies were contacted after the cow was located on the property just below the windmill by the owner, Wade Garrett, Feb. 18. The animal was still nursing a young calf at the time it was shot.
Pulver also said the cow appeared to have been shot with a high-powered rifle and then left for dead.
“Along with losing one of our best cows, we also have an orphan calf we’ll have to bottle raise as well,” Garrett, the animal’s owner, said in a post on social media Sunday.
Garrett added that they are seeking information on whoever is responsible for “this senseless crime.”
A $7,500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the parties involved. The reward is part of a joint effort between the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife, Utah Farm Bureau, Utah Cattleman and the Utah Department of Agriculture.
The Utah Farm Bureau Federation supported the effort by contributing to the reward fund due to the nature of the incident and the fact that it appeared to have been a random act that not only results in a loss to the animal’s owner but appeared to have been a random act that destroyed an animal, Matt Hargreaves, Utah Farm Bureau Federation’s Vice President of Communications said.
“This isn’t a cow getting hit along the road, this is something beyond,” Hargreaves said.
Pulver said the ongoing investigation into the incident is active and that he was familiar with a similar case reported in a nearby county within the last few months or so, adding that this is the first report of a cow being shot in Juab County that he is aware of.
The case he is referring to involved four cows, including two calves that were killed while grazing near hunting areas in September. One cow was killed in Garfield County, and three were in Iron County.
Two of the cows killed in Iron County appeared to have been shot with some type of archery equipment, and while authorities have reason to believe the incidents were connected, more will be revealed as the investigation progresses. But one thing is clear: The acts appear to be intentional and “the cows were killed for nothing,” Iron County Sheriff Ken Carpenter said in October.
A $2,000 reward was being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the parties involved in that case, and, similar to the Juab incident, the reward was part of a joint effort between the Utah Farm Bureau and the Utah Department of Agriculture, Garfield County Sheriff James Perkins told St. George News at the time the incidents were being investigated.
Anyone with information on the Juab County case is being asked to contact the Juab County Sheriff’s office at 435-623-1349,
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