A 54-year-old Florida man, Hung Trinh, is facing animal cruelty charges after allegedly shooting his neighbor’s pregnant cow a total of five times. While the cow initially survived the shooting, she was eventually euthanized after a veterinary assessment.
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According to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) post on Facebook, the incident took place during the afternoon of Tuesday, May 13. Members of the LCSO Agriculture Unit arrived at a Sharon Drive ranch, where they found a two-year-old pregnant calf having suffered five gunshot wounds to the guts, chest, and rear leg.
Deputies would then speak to the cow’s owner. There, he said that his neighbor, Trinh, had threatened to shoot his animals. According to him, there had been past incidents of livestock jumping the fence.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Julie Sin spoke with Fox 4. She provided some additional details regarding the incident.
“The suspect had threatened to shoot the livestock had it gone back on their property as well so throughout the investigation,” Sin said. “We learned that’s exactly what happened.”
The pregnant calf was rushed to al local veterinarian. Unfortunately, the cow had to be euthanized due to the severity of her sustained injuries, as per the sheriff’s office.
Arrested And Charged
Sin added that the pregnant cow was supposed to be sold in the future.
“You’re now taking from that farmer taking some money away from them and taking away all that livestock,” she said.
After obtaining a warrant, detectives found a .22 caliber gun inside a shed on Trinh’s property.
As a result, Hung Trinh was arrested and charged with animal cruelty and grand theft of a commercial farm animal.
“There’s no reason that this verbal altercation between two neighbors had to turn into what it did, an animal cruelty case,” Sin said. “At this time, we’re going to hold that suspect accountable.”
Sheriff Carmine Marceno praised the Agriculture Unit’s response and stated that they will deliver justice.
“There will be accountability for taking your frustrations out on innocent animals,” Marceno said. “In this case, multiple felonies and jail time. We know how much these animals mean to our farming community, and we will not tolerate these actions.”