01/29/07 Where Have all the Cowboys Gone?

One might have expected the following story to have occurred in Manhattan but hardly in the Northwest, least of all in Eastern Washington making it tragically apparent how far removed people have become from farming. Two Spokane County deputies are facing animal cruelty charges for killing a 6 month old calf grazing near the highway. It wasn't a humane shot that ended it's life rather these two "tuff " cops jolted the calf with over 50,000 volts of electricity& for more than 4 minutes. Despicable animal cruelty deserves a tough sentence instead the Spokane County Sheriff called the deputies "justified" and the county prosecutor refused to file charges. An onlooker who described the animal as being tortured mercilessly had to hire an attorney to bring the cops to court after her complaints were ignored. Where have all the cowboys gone! This is a six month old calf folks not a bull or even viscous bit bull. Real men would have flanked and tied it , at the least herded it out of harms way. Lets hope the bullys with the trigger happy tasers get a good jolt from the judge.