HUMANE SOCIETY ADDS $5,000 TO REWARD IN COW KILLING CASE Responding to reports of the wanton slaughter of at least seven pregnant cows in the rural community of Vernon in Tooele County, the Humane Society of Utah has added $5,000 to the 3,000 reward already offered by the cows' owners for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators of the crime.        According to HSU Executive Director Gene Baierschmidt, the person or persons who shot off the lock on the gate to the animals' enclosure and then killed them may face felony charges because of the financial loss incurred by the death of the cows and the calves they would have produced, but he points out that they could also be charged with a Class A misdemeanor under Utah State Criminal Code Section 76-9-301 for cruelty to animals.  The specific section of that law states that "a person is guilty of aggravated cruelty to an animal if the person . . . kills or causes to be killed an animal without having a legal privilege to do so."        However, Mr. Baierschmidt adds, "This appears to be a senseless act of wanton brutality.  Scientific research has established such a strong link between mindless cruelty to animals and violence against human beings that we hope that, in addition to prison time, psychological counseling is ordered for whoever committed this act. They have exhibited a callous indifference to the suffering and death of living beings, and that's a dangerous sign for our society as a whole.  The  fact that the maximum penalty the killer or killers could be charged with is a Class A misdemeanor only serves to intensify our realization that Utah needs stronger animal-cruelty laws."        Anyone having information about the case is urged to call HSU Chief Investigator John Paul Fox at 261-2919, ex. 210, or Tooele County Sheriff's Detective Ron Johnson at (435) 843-4705.

Return