The Dunn County Sheriff's Department took nearly 60 heads of cattle into custody Feb. 12, after finding they had been neglected, said Dunn County State's Attorney Ross Sundeen.
The cattle reportedly belonged to Jonathan Voss, who resides in Halliday.
Larry Boepple, Dunn County Sheriff, said Mercer County authorities had informed him of possible neglect, after authorities there took cattle belonging to Voss into custody.
"On Jan. 28 the superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Land Management contacted me and requested my assistance in regards to some cattle that were not being properly fed or watered and were trespassing on a tribal member's land and the individual that had the cattle was a nontribal member," said Mercer County Sheriff Dean Danzeisen.
Boepple said between the two counties, 127 head of cattle were seized from Voss.
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Sundeen said the cattle seized in Dunn County were examined by a veterinarian and were found to be in deplorable condition.
"Animals are assigned a score between one and nine with one being very emaciated, five being normal and nine being an extremely obese animal," Sundeen said. "Of the cows inspected, they had a body condition score of one or two, placing them into the emaciated to very emaciated levels."
"It was observed that the grass was eaten down and there's no evidence of hay or any feeding of hay and no observable access to water," Sundeen said. "As a result, the veterinarian concluded the animals suffered from chronic food deprivation and possible water deprivation. Based on that finding we took those animals into custody."
The cattle were then taken to Stockmen's Livestock Exchange in Dickinson, Sundeen said.
Danzeisen said three head of cattle in Mercer County died before they were transported to Dickinson and two more died at Stockmen's Livestock Exchange.
Larry Schnell, of Stockmen's Livestock Exchange, said they fed the remaining cattle and nursed them back to health.
"Two of them even had calves," Schnell said. "They're much better than they were when they got there."
Sundeen said criminal charges are not pending and he is unsure whether or not they will be initiated.
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"In a winter like this year that we've been having, a whole host of factors come into play when you make those kinds of decisions," Sundeen said. "I'll have to go through it and take a look at it and see if there's any criminal liability or whether or not it was just unfortunate circumstances that led to the issue of neglect."
No formal charges have been filed against Voss in Mercer County either, Danzeisen said.
However, a civil matter was brought about because of the neglected cattle. Voss had used the cattle authorities took into custody -- along with other herds of cattle which were not seized by authorities -- as collateral for a line of credit with American Bank Center.
An agreement between Voss and American Bank Center was filed Tuesday. According to the agreement, Voss is to sell all the cattle he used for collateral. He is to provide immediate and adequate care to the animals until he is able to sell them.
