DANIELSVLLE, Ga. – Police charged a man with animal cruelty after he allegedly strapped a cow on a flatbed trailer.
According to a report from the Danielsville Police Department, on Nov. 27, an officer saw a white Kia Sorento heading east on Highway 98 with a live cow tied onto a trailer being towed.
The officer wrote:
"The cow was strapped down at each hoof on its stomach and appeared to be wounded in both legs, with one leg appearing to have been punctured and injured. A fifth strap was placed over the cow's nick and tightened down so that the animal's head was pinned loosely to the front railing of the trailer. The animal's pelvic bones also appeared to be misshapen."
The driver, 43-year-old Phong Thanh Tran, told the officer that the cow had a broken leg and was given to him by a friend. Tran told the officer that he was taking the cow to a meal processor in Nicholson, Ga.
When contacted by the officer, the meat processor said that Tran did not have an appointment and would need one in order to have such a large animal processed.
The officer arrested Tran for violations of the Danielsville Animal Care Ordinance. He was taken to Madison County Detention Center and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.
The cow was taken to an animal processing and terminated. The body of the cow was handed over to Tran's wife for disposal, according to the police report.
