OWASSO, Okla. — Three months after a violent act of animal cruelty claimed three buffalo, Owasso farmer Bill Rethke is demanding those responsible are held accountable.
The Department of Agriculture handed the investigation from the beginning since the crimes committed were on farm animals. Rethke is frustrated it's taken this long to see action.
"Right's right, wrong's wrong, someone did something wrong, they need to be in jail," he said.
Rethke has reached out to a number of different entities to get movement on his case, but it has been passed around with no one giving any concrete information. He said he's spoken to the DOA, the Cherokee Nation, Lighthorse Police, and even spoke with Gov. Stitt's office.
A spokesperson for the DOA told 2 News two weeks ago that they had completed their investigation. However, they handed their findings to the Cherokee Nation, as two of the suspects are tribal, and it became an issue of the McGirt ruling.
We reached out to the Cherokee Nation multiple times and were told the matter is currently 'a pending investigation in collaboration with local law enforcement.'
"It's ridiculous," Rethke said. "I don’t understand why you can’t arrest someone for killing your animals, like, it’s black and white."
It infuriates Rethke that suspects have been identified and are living with no consequences while he can't get over what happened. He said what happened to his animals has been hard to get over.
"I’ve slept in my truck out here so many times," said Rethke. "The cameras, they go off, I mean, a bird flies by, and it goes off, man, I’m out of bed and over here... like it ruins you."
He wants to be able to put this situation behind him but needs the closure to do so.
Rethke said he just wants to see justice served to those who committed the crime.
"I mean, it was a shot in the wind even to get them, to find them, I didn't think we'd ever even get this far," Rethke said. "But now that we have, let's finish it."
After the initial incident, the Quapaw Nation donated three of their yearling to Rethke's herd to make up for the loss. He said whatever comes out of this will go back to the Quapaw as his way of saying thank you for their generosity.
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