Local News

Six loose cows shot dead

By Christopher Ross

ORWELL — Six loose cows appear to have been shot and killed Friday night, Oct. 30 in Orwell, according to a press release issued by Vermont state police Saturday.

The cows had been running wild most of the summer and fall, said Brian Kemp, who owns Mountain Meadows Farm in Sudbury/Whiting, in an email to the Addison County Independent (a sister publication of the Mountain Times).

“No one knows whose they were, even though it had been put on social media,” he said. “No one ever came forth to claim them.”

On Friday night, just short of 11 o’clock, troopers responded to a report that several people in a pickup truck were shooting cows on a property in the town. Upon investigation they discovered six dead cows with apparent bullet wounds near the intersection of Route 73 and Horton Road, according the press release.

Five hours before, area resident Kenney Torrey had seen the cows running loose on Route 73, he wrote on Facebook Saturday morning.

Police checked with a number of nearby farms but were unable to determine who owned the cows. They’re asking anyone with information about the owners or the incident to contact Trooper Josh Gurwicz at the New Haven Barracks  at 802-388-4919.

“A shame that it had to end this way,” Kemp said. “Very reckless and concerning actions by someone.”

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