CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #9374 Rating: 4.3 out of 5
Cows and calves starved to death
Denver, CO (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Jan 31, 1999
County: Arapahoe
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Benedict Palen
Benedict Palen pleaded guilty in December to a cruelty-to-animals charge for starving 13 pregnant cows and several calves to death. The remainder of the herd had been neglected and starved. Palen has been ordered to repay $32,000 to two Texas ranching families. Palen was also sentenced to 12 months of unsupervised probation and 100 hours of public service.
The two families had left cattle to be cared for by Palen in 1999 when they sent 112 adult cattle and seven calves to graze at the Sterling Ranch in October 1998 because of a severe drought in Texas.
The Texas ranchers saw an advertisement by Palen in the Western Livestock Journal regarding his 3,000 acre site south of Chatfield Reservoir. The two Texas ranchers agreed to give Palen 60 percent of the calves born to the cattle in exchange for the use of grazing land and for Palen caring for the animals.
In approximately two months the cows ate all the dead grass and wheat stubble on the ground and Palen never replenish the food supply. The 112 cattle from Texas were sharing the grazing fields with about 400 other cattle belonging to other owners.
The first cow died in February 1999. About two weeks later a woman who lived on the ranch called authorities complaining about cattle dying. When investigators went to the ranch, they saw starving and thin cows. "They couldn't walk half a mile."
"The cows were tearing a fence down to get to water" on the other side. "They were so thirsty they broke down the fence."
The mothers were unable to produce milk for their calves and had lost so much of their "mothering instincts" that it was difficult pairing them with their calves. Several of the calves were aborted or absorbed in the womb. The cattle that arrived in Colorado were healthy and able to walk.
The two Texas ranching families estimated leaving their cattle with Palen cost them approximately $62,000. References« CO State Animal Cruelty Map
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