Two Charlotte County men face felony charges after allegedly trespassing onto a DeSoto County farm and shooting a cow in the head while they were on their way to school.
The DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office arrested Matthew Robert Wright and Gavin Hunter McMillan on charges of armed trespass and aggravated animal cruelty, the press release stated.
Thomas Butler discovered the men on his family’s cattle farm northwest of Arcadia on Friday. One man stood in the pasture holding the dead heifer’s head, telling Butler “someone shot this cow,” according to Fox 4, which cited an arrest report.
When Butler asked where they were going, the men said they were headed to school and needed to leave. “Butler advised they were going nowhere and contacted the Sheriff’s Office to report the incident,” the report stated. (RELATED: Cows Drop Like Flies After Greenie Gov’t Policy Promotes Drugged Feed)
Carl Pickle, who owns the land where Butler raises cattle, told deputies the men jumped a barbed wire fence to access the property.
Wright initially changed his story multiple times before admitting he shot the cow with his rifle, deputies said. When asked what he planned to do with the animal, Wright said he intended to do nothing with it.
Deputies removed a concealed 9mm Glock handgun from Wright’s pants during questioning. A search of McMillan’s vehicle turned up several grams of marijuana and a grinder.
“It was cruel, what they did,” said Rylee Butler, Thomas’s daughter. “And I don’t think it’s whatsoever right.”
The family estimates the heifer was worth around $45,000.
“You weren’t going to take it for the meat, you know? What was the purpose of it?” Rylee said. “It was just like a vindictive kind of act.”
Sheriff James Potter thanked concerned citizens and deputies for investigating what his office called “this senseless crime.”
