The Stewart County Sheriff’s Office discovered 12 dead and dying cows and a dozen or more starving cows on a farm in Dover, Tennessee.
The farm was leased by Waverly attorney Cliff McGown Jr., who said he hired TWRA officer Kenneth Ray Smith to take care of the cattle.
“When we arrived it was horrible,” said Stewart County Investigator David Evans. They were starving and in awful shape."
Houston County Sheriff’s Lt. Tim Stavely said Stewart County authorities passed along information that McGown possibly had cattle in Houston County, and the officer found that McGown had leased about 100 acres on state Highway 231 and near Highway 13.
After locating the property on Feb. 24, Stavely returned on Feb. 26 with a state Department of Agriculture employee who determined “the cattle weren’t in the best health.”
On Feb. 28, deputies returned and found 15 of the herd dead.
About 250 head of cattle were being kept on the property. The dead animals “were in various states of decomposition,” Stavely said.
“It appeared they had been fed,” he said of the cattle herd. “It just wasn’t enough for all of them or it was just not nutritious enough.”
Stavely added that authorities have evidence that McGown knew more than a month earlier that the cattle were not being properly fed, “but it still had not been corrected.”
He said after an animal advocacy group was contacted, hay from a local farmer was brought to the starving animals.
There are dozens of photographs and videos that are now evidence in the case.
The farm was leased from a local judge who turned it into police as soon as he found out.
Both McGown and Smith are out on a $50,000 bond each. They are expected in court April 18.
ARREST INFO:
Full Name: Clifford Knott Mcgown
Arrest Age:58
Gender: Male
City: Waverly, Tennessee 37185
Date:02/24/2017
Time: 5:08 PM
Total Bond: $50,000
Charges
#1 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#2 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#3 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#4 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#5 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#6 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#7 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#8 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#9 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#10 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#11 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#12 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
Full Name: Kenneth Ray Smith
Arrest Age:52
Gender: Male
Block: 700 McCord Ln
City: Waverly, Tennessee 37185
Date:02/24/2017
Time: 2:40 PM
Total Bond: $50,000
Charges
#1 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#2 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#3 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#4 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#5 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#6 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#7 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#8 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#9 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#10 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#11 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#12 AGGRAVATED CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
(Fox17 - Feb 24, 2017)
Allowing cows to starve is not only cruel, it's stupid. Cows are a commodity. Unlike dogs or horses that have more intrinsic value as pets, cows are an investment. When you find you can't afford to feed them, you can sell them. Even skinny cows will sell at a local auction as long as they can walk. If you have no way to transport them, the auction house can most likely put you in touch with someone who can do it for you. I know some of these guys who will take a cow or two as payment for the service. Winter is famine time for cows. They will not survive without supplemental feeding. And 250 cows on 100 acres? One cow per acre on good pasture in the summer, if you get rain might be feasible. Man, I hate idiots. Especially when their stupidity causes suffering of this magnitude.
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