The owner of 32 bison slain about 85 miles southwest of Denver filed a lawsuit, alleging owners of neighboring property hired 14 SHOOTERS to kill the animals.
Longtime Colorado rancher Monte Downare filed the lawsuit in Park County District Court Tuesday against Austin, Texas, businessman Jeff Hawn and his Denver lawyer, Stephen Csajaghy.
Downare claims “outrageous conduct” that has caused them emotional distress. No criminal charges have been filed. YET.
Hawn, who has identified himself as a major shareholder in Wateredge Properties
Of the 32 bison killed, only eight were shot on the Hawn property, according to the suite.
The rest were killed on property not owned or controlled by Hawn and his Wateredge Properties.
I’d say that Hawn has a problem on his hands. If he’d shot only animals on his land, he might have a defense in court, since the USFWS, as well as ranchers surrounding Yellowstone, regularly shoot bison that get outside the park boundaries. The reason why is that it is nigh on impossible to push them from horseback or ATV’s where you want them to do. If you really get ‘em stirred up, they’re going to cause serious injury or death to anyone that gets in their way.
So if he’d shot ONLY those animals that had broken through a fence onto his land, or better yet, called the county sheriff and had the LEO’s have a go at trying to push them (and likely ultimately resorting to shooting them), then he’d be in the clear. And were I in his boots, I’d have called the law in and said “See this animals? They ain’t mine. Get ‘em out of here.”
But as I’m reading your information, the bison were found dead not only on Hawn’s land, but also out on BLM land, yes?
Then two things are obvious:
1. Downare isn’t feeding those animals if they’re wandering out all over the place, and
2. Hawn is in heap big trouble. So are the clowns he hired or pulled in as triggermen.