A North Dakota rancher found almost half of his herd dead in the pasture during a normal herd check in late July.
Brian Amundson, owner of Bar V Ranch in Stutsman County, North Dakota was making his typical rounds to take a look at his cattle a little over one month ago and came upon a scene straight out of a horror movie. Amundson found 43% of his cattle lying lifeless in the field.
“We go through lots of challenges. We’ve overcome those challenges, we continue to operate. There’s lots of things in life that are hard and probably one of the most challenging things for myself, and to have to deal with this, and to understand, and not to understand the why’s, the what’s, the how’s, is hard,” Amundson said during a press conference.
Lead Investigator Jason Falk said the deaths have been classified as ‘suspicious.’ “The Stutsman County Sherriff’s Department and the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association (NDSA) are asking for the public’s help in solving a case involving more than 58 pregnant cows and at least 15 pre-born calves. The cows and some of the aborted calves were discovered dead on July 29th, some cows later aborted. The cows were grazing on a leased pasture in the Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge,” Falk explained.
The pasture contained 138 cows, which were bred to calve this fall, beginning in September. Following the discovery of the dead animals, Mr. Amundson asked for the help of veterinary professionals to diagnose what had happened to these animals. After several veterinarians examined the cattle, they ruled that the deaths were not due to natural causes. They took a look at lightning strikes, anthrax, water issues, and even naturally occurring toxins and came up with no leads.
North Dakota State University Extension Veterinarian Dr. Gerald Stokka has one theory. “Based on it being a point-source, death loss occurred over a short period of time, along with abortions, it’s my opinion that somehow these cattle had access to non-naturally occurring nitrates, and that can come from a number of sources.”
Another theory investigators are looking into is that the ranch could have been targeted. Back in April, Bar V Ranch suffered two separate hay fires where they lost a total of 2,000 bales. The fires cost the ranch $200,000 and are being considered arson. At this time, the Sherriff’s Department said the fires could be tied to the cattle deaths, but there is no exact link.
Up to a $40,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to solving this case.
