Eyewitness accounts of a truck chasing down and injuring two bulls in a British Columbia community pasture do not provide enough evidence to take the case to trial.
One evening last May, a group of men chased two purebred Charolais bulls in the pasture near Jaffray.
A neighbour witnessed two men in the front seat of the truck and two riding in the back trying to jump onto the bulls.
He reported the incident, licence plate number and company name on the truck to the bulls’ owners, who in turn handed the information to local RCMP.
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No charges were laid in the case.
Crown counsel Basil McCormick in Cranbrook, B.C., said the case will not go to trial because it failed to meet the charge approval test.
The case would not likely end in conviction, he explained.
The neighbour would be unable to identify the individuals in a police lineup and the company denies its workers were directly involved.
The decision not to prosecute does not sit well with the bulls’ owners, Steve and Faye Street of Mountain Meadow Ranch at Jaffray.
“We did nothing wrong, we are the victims here. Some individuals caused pain to two animals,” said Faye Street.
She explained how one bull disappeared into the bush after the incident while the second was badly injured running across the rocky field. Both its back hoofs broke off in the skirmish with “drunken hoodlums,” which left the Streets with a bull with a five percent chance of being used for breeding again.
The Streets paid about $600 in medications for the injured bull in addition to countless hours spent searching unsuccessfully for the second bull. Also lost were their breeding opportunities for the season.
The other option is to sue the company whose truck was involved, but two years of BSE and high legal fees make that unfeasible, said Street.
She cited other incidents in the area involving cattle being used for target practice and shot full of arrows or bullets.
“There’s not much sympathy for those in the food producing industry who work for low incomes. They don’t seem to care.”
