Cattle abandoned, left to die
Pecos, TX (US)

Incident Date: Monday, Aug 1, 2011
County: Reeves

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Richard Steed

It's one of the worst cases of animal cruelty the Reeves County Sheriff's Office says they've ever seen.

Cattle left to die in the extreme heat, with no water and no food, now the landowner who allegedly neglected them is behind bars

63-year-old Richard Steed is charged with 8 counts of animal cruelty after the Reeves County Sheriff's Office says he shut off the water to the cattle and neglected to feed them.

It's something one neighbor says she'll never comprehend.

"I tried pouring water down the bulls throat and they just lay over and die."

Valerie Pandak lives next to the land where Steed kept his cattle; she says she watched for days as they slowly began to die from starvation and dehydration.

"I saw the animals sitting up, so I assumed everyone was okay," but she soon realized she was watching cattle die painfully of neglect, and all it took was one phone call to find out it was intentional.

"He said my trucks are running bad, so I just quit coming out."

Steed cut the water supply to the animals, stopped feeding them and left them fenced in with no shelter under the extreme West Texas sun.

"For him to purposely shut off water and food, he admitted it three times, he said just take what animals are alive and deal with it."

Pandak said she turned the water back on and tried to save the cattle and calves.

Some of the cattle were actually pregnant and she could see the calves kicking from inside the womb.

She and several friends tried to save the newborns but the heat had already taken its toll.

"We were keeping water on them, trying to hose down what the hose could reach, but every animal is officially dead."

Calling it a senseless loss of life, Pandak says she'll never understand why.

"The whole situation is he's sitting in his air conditioning watching his cable TV and the animals have eaten the hoses."

Cruelty to Animals is a Class A misdemeanor, if convicted Steed faces a fine of up to $4,000 and up to one year of jail time for each count.

References

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