More Cattle Mutilations in Oregon
You probably don't hear about this type of thing every day! Two different cattle mutilations have been found with in the past 2 months... in Oregon! This is particularly scary, because this has been happening more and more in the past couple years. In fact, it was almost a year ago, that reports came from Fossil, Oregon about a mutilation. In that incident, a boot print was left on the scene. So far with these latest deaths, no evidence has been found.
A carcass was found on August 14th, but believed to have been killed a few days earlier, of a Black Angus bull (valued at around $4,500) by Tanner Brown on his ranch in Wheeler County. The bull had it's tongue, ear, eye, cheek, reproductive organs and part of it's tail missing, all by clean cuts. Mr. Brown is not alone in what has happened to his livestock, with another mutilation happening roughly 2 weeks earlier in neighboring Harney County.
These incidents are escalating. In fact in recent years, there have five reports in Wheeler County, five more in Harney County as well as three different cases in Crook County. So far, researchers and authorities are stumped about what is happening, why it's happening and even how and who is killing these animals. The investigations are ongoing, but the authorities have issued warnings to ranchers to keep an eye on their animals.
How Rare Is This?
Not rare at all! In fact, FBI case files have recorded thousands of killings and mutilations of cattle since the 1970's all across the U.S. (including Oregon). No culprits have ever been arrested. Because of how the parts of the carcass were removed, being clean cuts, they can rule out wild animals and predators. How the actual death occurred is also a mystery. No bullet wounds, strangulation, tire tracks, signs of poison etc.