CHINA SPRING, Texas — A China Spring man went to social media after seeing some local cows that looked malnourished. Now they are getting some help. David Carter told 6 News on Sunday that he had been making calls about the animals since the beginning of January. When he didn't see any action by law enforcement, he turned to social media instead of giving up.
Carter told 6 News he first saw the cows off China Spring Road on a property close to the local Sonic in July and said their condition seemed to get worse as time went on. In December, Carter said he started making calls to the McLennan County Game Warden, the sheriff's office and the Waco Police Department animal control unit. He was told the the area should be the responsibility of the police, not the sheriff's department.
"They were very emaciated, they didn't get anything to eat, so that's when we decided to call and report the situation," Carter said. "A gentleman with animal control told me someone had already called and reported this property the first of the month and said they were already looking into what was going on."
Several weeks passed, and Carter said nothing was done. But instead of give up, he started taking pictures. Carter posted the pictures on Facebook Saturday and the post was shared more than 1800 times. It got a response from both Waco PD and a deputy in the McLennan County Sheriff's Office by Sunday afternoon.
Sunday morning, the cows were loaded up and removed from the property.
6 News contacted the McLennan County Sheriff's Office Sunday and Chief Deputy David Kilcrease said they were taken to a local veterinarian.
"I found out there was a posting on Facebook and I found out about the same time that the owner of the cattle had been contacted. The owner of the cattle decided to nip it in the bud and take the animals directly to the vet," Kilcrease said. "The vet came back and said the only thing the cattle needed was to have the calves removed from them... the cows were actually nursing calves."
Kilcrease said Carter did the right thing bringing the issue to light.
"He did the right thing in making sure. He saw something that bothered him, he should have reported it. He did," Kilcrease said.
