By: Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas
A farmer has spoken of their horror after three calves were slaughtered by intruders at their petting zoo.
The baby cows were killed by a suspected gang at their home at Amerton Farm - where managing director Eunice Finney described a scene of "carnage". She said the animals had been "mutilated" overnight.
The horrific incident is believed to have happened between 5.30pm on Monday, November 6, and 7am, Tuesday, November 7. The alarm was first raised when blood was found, along with signs of forced entry at the gate.
While the carcasses had been removed, parts of the calves' bodies and blood had been left at the farm in Stowe-by Chartley, Stafford. Eunice told Stoke on Trent Live: "Somebody has broken into our field and killed three calves. They were part of the farm, and they weren't very old. They were Hereford cross cows. They were fine on that night but then we found the carnage. They were mutilated. It has to be a gang that did it because they didn't know anything about animals to have done it like that. I'm distraught."
A police investigation is now underway, with officers visiting the site on Wednesday for a forensic examination of the area. It follows a similar incident in the area last month, where a cow was killed on a farm a mile away in the village Grindley. Police said the owner found the cow at the scene at 5.05pm on Wednesday 18 October, and that parts of the animal had been "harvested for meat".
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/three-calves-killed-mutilated-intruders-31406384