May 17, 2010
To All;
Regarding Vern Wagner's Cattle
I have been watching the cattle on our ranch since the snows in late April. I met up with the Animal Control and a
County Sheriff when they first started dropping hay. I was told by Amy of the Sheriff's Dept. that first day that there
were cattle dead and starving on the timbered ridges. "It is a real mess up there!" The wind was blowing very hard
that afternoon and they were feeding out in the middle of the open where no cow would travel when they had the
timber protection.
I checked the entire length of the ridge a few days later finding no dead cattle or tracks of the removal of dead
animals. On May 18th I checked an area that the authorities claimed contained dead cattle and I found 2 or 3, but at
least one was from last year.
I thought this very odd for the amount of Sheriff activity on the ranch and wondered about the credibility of what I
had been told. Obviously what I had been told by Officer Amy was meant to mislead as to the true number.
I drove around the ranch 2 more times before the weather warmed up and the run off washed several of the roads.
Again finding no more dead animals.
I spoke with Vern a few times as well over this time frame.
On Tuesday, May 11, Vern invited me to to with him and Dr. Mason, a vet with considerable large animal experience,
to go look at all Vern's cattle. We spent most of the day and looked at about 700 to 800 head of cattle. We saw
some that were thin, about 50 and most of them were feeding a calf. We saw none that had ribs showing. All of the
calves looked very good. Angus cattle show hip boned more quickly than other breeds like Herford. Over all the
cattle looked healthy and none looked close to death. Dr. Mason took a large amount of pictures and documented
everything.
A hearing was slated for Tuesday, May 18th. Animal Control received permission to confiscate all Vern's cattle on
the grounds that the majority of the animals would die prior to the hearing.
Saturday and Sunday, the Sheriff's and some local cowboys gathered the cattle. Obviously they were not
concerned that the cattle were supposed to be so frail as I watched from my house as several cowboys ran 50 or 60
head of cattle nearly half a mile along the East side of Hwy. 9 to the ranch at MM 50 where they were to be loaded
out.
The cattle were shipped to the sale yard in Salida. These yards are not maintained for this many cattle so there are
already feeding, watering, and sorting issues after only one
day. Many of the cows are tight bagged which means they have not found there calves and the calves have not
eaten for 24 hours.
I am not one to get in the middle of someone else’s business, however I see where I have been lied to by the Sheriff,
there has been manipulation to get around due process, there
have been Sheriffs all over Thousand Peaks, driving all over private land, without a single landowner being notified
or a single search warrant issued, and I do not believe this is right or even really legal.
Bottom line is that Vern has a small percentage of thin cattle; Vern lost at most about 7% of his herd including
calves. 4% to 5% calf loss is expected on a range calving program. The cattle were in stable health when
confiscated, not within a few days of dying as reported. There have been some fancy moves to avoid due process
prior to taking the cattle, no warrants. Vern is not a negligent rancher.
Many of my family and yours have fought, and some died, for our freedoms and individual rights. I will testify in court
at this hearing regarding several aspects from cattle treatment to the protein and food value of the grass on
Thousand Peaks.
I do wish to live in this beautiful country without fearing that I will come home one day to find my horses gone and
given to someone else just because someone did not like what was feeding them and called the Sheriff because
they did not have the backbone to talk to me directly.
Respectfully,
Ray Lyons