BY ALEX PIAZZA
apiazza@record-eagle.com
TRAVERSE CITY — Bob Boeve was forced to bury one of his cows this week after he said someone shot it with a bow and arrow.
"They didn't even go for the meat," said Boeve, a veteran beef farmer. "They did it for some sort of sick pleasure."
Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies responded to an animal cruelty complaint at his Garfield Township farm off Hoch Road. Boeve, 53, noticed an unusual wound near the cow's neck area, so his friend examined it and dug out an 8-inch arrow.
"The cow had suffered for some period of time," he said.
Boeve offered a $5,000 reward in hopes it will help authorities figure out who killed his cow. Anyone with information on the animal cruelty case is asked to call the sheriff's department at 995-5000 or the Silent Observer Tip Line at 947-8477.
Canine units tracked footprints along Boeve's property line to a set of vehicle tracks, but deputies have yet to nab a suspect.
"I hate to see an animal suffer when people do that kind of thing," Boeve said. "I've never really seen this before."
The incident marks the county's second such animal cruelty death in recent years. Deputies continue to investigate the death of a poodle, which caught many locals by surprise. Authorities last year found "Possum Pie" dead and partially burned near its home in Garfield Township's Meadow Lane mobile home park.
The reward for "Possum Pie" increased last month to $3,500, but deputies have yet to generate any successful leads.
