Today's Tucson News over morning coffee:
Temperature 52; highs of 68 expected; buttermilk skies
Carcasses of 6 cattle found;
all had been shot to death
By Dale Quinn
Arizona Daily Star
The discovery of six cows shot to death near a watering hole in the Redington Pass area east of Tucson has the owner asking for help tracking down the shooter. A $10,000 reward has been offered for information.....
The range area has problems with illegal shooting -- with targets including native plants, animals and road signs -- and illegal dumping.
"All kinds of things get shot up there," Pima County Sheriff's Dept. Detective Mike Duffey said, "But mostly its the junk that people bring up there to shoot."
Now it seems people -- bored with shooting other targets -- are aiming at cows, Duffey said. The cattle belonged to the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch on East Speedway and were worth about $1000 each, ranch owner Bob Cote said.
Illegal shooting has been a problem in the open range, but finding six dead cows at once is unusual, he said.
The cows were found near a wildcat shooting range, U.S. Forest Service land where shooters can take target practice, Cote said. Cote has had more than 12 cows shot dead in the past year, and he said the sheriff could patrol the area more regularly.
The guest ranch has an active cow-calf business. Ranchers raise the mothers and sell the calves to a feedlot for processing. The ranch has about 700 cows, Cote said.
The problem is about more than the value of the cows, though, Cote said.
"People should not be shooting animals like that. If they start shooting at animals, what's the difference between shooting at people. It's not that big a jump."
