Posted on 12/27/2008 8:15:22 AM PST by george76
A lawsuit filed by Texas businessman Jeff Hawn alleging that bison owned by Hartsel rancher Monte Downare destroyed his property was dismissed on Dec. 17 after Hawn paid his court-ordered restitution.
The restitution was part of a plea deal in a criminal case against Hawn for his role in the slaughter of 32 of Downare's bison... Hawn agreed to plead guilty to one count of felony criminal mischief and one count of cruelty to animals...
As part of the plea bargain, Hawn was required to pay roughly $83,000 in restitution.
The civil case was put on hold during the criminal case, in which Hawn will be sentenced on Jan. 28.
(Excerpt) Read more at theflume.com ...
14 bison were killed on land owned by Catherine Pimm.
Eight were killed on Bureau of Land Management property,
four on U.S. Forest Service property,
three on property of Robert Lemm
three on Hawn’s ranch.
cruelty to animals?
Did Hawn kill all those Bison? If so, what was his problem? Seeing that most of the killed Bison were NOT on his property?
The article says he arranged for hunters, who killed the bison.
It was wanton slaughter of his neighbor's livestock.
Amazing. None were on his land.
I wondered how this case would come out. This seems equitable to me.
More on Hawn - one of those nuveau riche that move in and demand the locals conform to him.
In a Feb. 25 letter addressed to Antonino Salcedo, Hawn gave permission to Salcedo and his “Atzlan Native Community” colleagues to shoot any Bison.
Authorities were first notified of the slaughter on March 19 when the Downares called 911 to report shots being fired at the bison. When deputies arrived, they discovered 14 people shooting at bison. They called a cease-fire and confiscated 12 rifles.
One of the shooters, identified in the affidavit as Antonino Salcedo, immediately turned over a letter written by Stephen Csajaghy, a Denver lawyer, and signed by his client, Jeff Hawn.
No fool, Antonino Salcedo liked the idea of getting free bison meat, but wanted a notarized letter from John Norman granting him and his pals permission for the hunt. It was provided.
On that March 19 morning, though, Salcedo and the others arrived to find at least 16 bison already lying dead, none even remotely dressed out for harvest.
They would shoot others on the Hawn property, adjacent Bureau of Land Management lands and on neighboring property. Investigators found that at least seven of the 16 cow bison killed prior to March 19 were about to calve.
This was in Colo.
What happened to
OH give me a home,
where the buffolo roam,
and the deer and the antlope play?
Is Colo a fence in or fence out state?
We have had several bison ranches in our county. One idiot dubbed himself the bison whisperer. His animals regularly broke through fences and destroyed private property. We have open range in our county, so he was not concerned. The neighbors were because they raise cattle and they were afraid of the deisease brucellosis.
Apparently, one has to have very strong double fencing to contain bison and no corners. Even with that, if they are in the habit of going through an area, not much can stop them. We had to pass an ordinance with fencing minimums and stiff penalities for bison caught outside of enclosures. No problem that I have heard of since then, but that was last year.
The owner of these bison could be another one of these owners aho thinks his buffalo should run free.
Colorado is a Fence Out State. Most Western states are.
Someone needs to use the hawn ranch as a back stop. Fix the problem., Shows what happens when you have never had to work a day in your life and have the money to build a zillion miles of fence. Hawns is a pervert.
The property Mr. Hawn owns isn’t used as a ranch; it’s just a vacation area.
http://www.theflume.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=5474&TM=74279.37
If the bison were on Mr Richs property, then it was his own bad fault....
SO to speak.
I can’t get that scene from Rancho Deluce out of my head - hunting with a 50 Sharps.....
I am not condoning Mr. Hawn’s actions, just saying that the bison owner appears to be complicit as well.
Of the slaughter of 32 of Downare’s bison...only 3 were on Hawn’s land.
BLM and USFS had these ATZLAN shooters too.
Hopefully, Hawn stays in Austin or San Fran from now on.
He never reached out to the locals near his gentleman’s ranch.
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