OWASSO, Okla. — Bill Rethke owned bison for over 20 years.
He finds the animals fascinating, and keeps about 30 of them as pets on land he leases in Owasso.
He left the property Monday evening and returned early Tuesday morning to feed them. He found blood on the driveway and fence.
Rethke said he thought maybe someone shot a deer but instead found someone shot two of his animals.
"I went in to feed, and I saw a bunch more blood," Rethke said. "I saw one down, and the other buffalo were trying to get it up, and then when I went over there... somebody cut its head off."
The beheaded animal was pregnant, and the injured bull will need to be put down. In total, Rethke lost three animals. Financially, it's a loss of about $12,000, but it's more than that.
"I don't even know what to say. I'm speechless," Rethke said. "It's not only the financial, it's... They're pets. I mean, I can feed all of them out of my hand. So, it's a bad deal."
The Department of Agriculture is assisting the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office in investigating the crime. TCSO Communications Director Casey Roebuck told 2 News those responsible face felony animal cruelty charges to start, and other charges could be added.
"This is the first time in my experience with the sheriff's office that we've had buffalo attacked in this way, this is also the first time we've had an animal shot and actually had the head removed," said Roebuck. "Their best guess is that someone took the head because they're going to mount it as a trophy, have it taxidermied. Those have a lot of value, but you know, the owner loved his animals. He was very close to them."
On the land in Owasso, Rethke hopes to have closer to 100 bison by the summer months. He said the tragedy won't keep him from purchasing more animals, but he's taking new measures to protect them.
"We've never had any problems, I mean… they're just cool animals," said Rethke. "You just leave them alone and watch them and enjoy them. Like, they do their own thing, they don't bother anybody. For somebody to do this is just ridiculous."
The DOA gathered evidence at the scene, looking at tire tracks, fingerprints, and possible shell casings. Rethke said a knife was found on the property that was used in the crime.
Roebuck said they may be looking at more than one attacker because of the size and weight of a buffalo head.
"Somebody was able to remove this animal's head while it was in a pen with other animals that we're very agitated," said Roebuck. "We have somebody who would know how to field dress an animal that they had shot and remove the head so it would still have value... this person knew what they were doing."
TSCO is accepting tips on this case at 918-596-5600.
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