For many parts of the country it's been a hot summer, and while many people are fortunate enough to have air-conditioned homes or offices to escape to, some creatures aren't so fortunate. Take for example cattle. Because cattle must often endure the hot weather outside on a pasture, it's important for ranch owners to be mindful in terms of watering cattle to keep them healthy. Unfortunately, Logan Collier, a former employee of a Williamson County ranch failed to keep 31 cows hydrated, causing all “31 of the animals to die.” His actions prompted the owners of the ranch to sue him on allegations that he “intentionally left cattle in a pasture without water.”The lawsuit was filed earlier last week by Robert and Carrie Tiemann, the owners of Tiemann Land and Cattle Development. The owners are represented by attorney Mark Dietz who said recently, “The Tiemanns are pretty upset about this. They care about their cattle and have gotten an award for their ranching operation. This is a black eye for them.” He added, “Collier had the responsibility to daily make sure they were given water. In as little as 72 hours, you can start to lose cattle in 100-degree heat.”

Williamson County Courthouse; image courtesy of Larry D. Moore via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org

So what happened, exactly? Well, according to the suit, an employee of Tiemann Land and Cattle Development “notified the Travis County Sheriff’s Office on May 31 that Collier had moved 100 head of cattle to a pasture at the ranch that had no water.” According to the report filed with the Sheriff's office, the 31 animals “had been left in the pasture for an unknown length of time.” Tragically, when a sheriff's deputy arrived at the scene, 14 of the animals were already dead. According to the suit, eventually, a total of “31 of the animals eventually died after Collier intentionally placed the cattle in a pasture without water because of his animosity towards TLCD (Tiemann Land and Cattle Development) and Robert Tiemann.”As a result, the Tiemann's lawsuit is seeking damages of between $100,000 and $200,000 to help cover their losses. According to the owners, the “dead cattle were worth $30,000, but they also lost additional money caring for some before they died as well as nursing other cattle that had gone without water.”In addition to the allegations that Collier intentionally let the cattle die, the lawsuit claims he “made unauthorized purchases on a company credit card and damaged a home that the Tiemanns rented to him in Taylor.” The ranch notified Collier back on January 10 that he had “violated policies regarding the use of company credit cards and ranch vehicles and equipment,” though no criminal charges were filed against him for the alleged violations.Collier has yet to comment on the pending litigation.

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Lawsuit: Ranch employee left cattle without water, causing 31 to dieLawsuit: Man left cattle without water causing 31 of them to die