Cattle Shootings

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Story Published: Sep 23, 2008 at 9:32 PM MST

Story Updated: Dec 18, 2008 at 3:00 PM MST

By Araksya Karapetyan

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BONNEVILLE/BINGHAM COUNTY - In the last few months, cattle and horses have been shot in the back country. The latest incident happened in Bingham County. One bull and five cows were shot.

A lot of ranchers are upset and want to catch whoever is doing it. Many of these ranchers are joining the Range Deputy Program that Bingham and Bonneville County officially kicked off Tuesday morning. The hope is, with more eyes and ears out there, the faster they can put a stop to this.

"It's a serious deal. Shouldn't be messing with someone else's livelihood," says Matt Thompson, an upset rancher.

A livelihood that's costing ranchers more than they can spare.

"We've had nine to ten cows shot in the last two months," he says.

For Thompson, that's 15-hundred per cow and it adds up.

"We've lost probably fifteen thousand dollars," says Thompson.

Ranchers are tired of it.

"Getting old finding cows on the side of the road," he adds.

So they're fighting back. They'll be patrolling different areas, looking for anyone or anything suspicious and reporting back.

"Want people familiar in the area to gather information. Who knows that area better than ones who live there," says Bingham County Sheriff, Dave Johnson.

"This is not someone needing food, this is someone killing for fun," says Bonneville County Sheriff, Paul Wilde.

And with growing population, that definition of "fun" is getting worse.

"When start to put more people in the that area, start having more problems," says Johnson.

Problems that don't just stop at shooting cattle.

"Cabins broken into, fences cut, fencing material stolen, vehicles stolen," says Thompson.

The Idaho and Bonneville Cattlemen Associations are offering a reward. If you have any information on these shootings, call Crime Stoppers at 522-1983. You can remain anonymous.

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