A couple articles mentioned that a dispatcher calledYantis to inform him he had a bull out in the road that was hit. At least one article stated the dispatcher requested he come and help take care of the situation.
One might have even intimated that the dispatcher asked him to help put the bull down.
Obviously 20/20 here, but I have to question the decision to call the rancher. If people were hurt, cows going crazy etc etc, I'm not sure how adding more people, and armed people, to the equation would make things better.
It is pretty standard around here to call the owner of the livestock. Nobody is better equipped to handle and contain said livestock than the rancher with his knowledge and equipment. Every rancher I know has a lariat behind the seat of his truck.
City folks and ranch folks have a whole different opinion of what constitutes aggressive behavior on the part of livestock. The rancher is a far better judge of that.
But the deputy has the obligation to protect the public from perceived threats. If, in his mind, the bull was a threat, he has a duty to put it down. The rancher will just have to seek compensation in court, which by state law he will receive from the driver of the vehicle.
I think the rancher arguing that he can contain the animal safely, and refusing to back down is a more likely scenario for this event than the one popularized over the internet.
People who choose to brew up their own storms bitch loudest about the rain.
