SPANISH FORK, Utah, April 12, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah County Sheriff’s Office is offering a wayward cow for auction.
“Seriously, have a cow!” the sheriff’s web post says, playing off the old “Don’t have a cow!” exclamation. “You know you need her!”
Deputies took their young heifer into custody a little more than two weeks ago and named her Reba after she’d been rambling about since likely early March in the area of Benjamin, west of the sheriff’s office.
After the department tried unsuccessfully to identify her owner, she’s been living in an animal shelter.
She wasn’t causing trouble, the was concern more about the teen Hereford getting hit by a vehicle in her meanderings.
Now she’s up for silent auction through April 19, as the sheriff is not outfitted to keep 900-pound strays
“She’s in good shape,” Sgt. Spencer Cannon, department spokesman, told Gephardt Daily. Reba has fed on plentiful grasses and watered at the canals in the area, he said.
“She’s not all filled out yet.” The growing youngster little more than a year old and still approaching her probable adult weight of 1,000 or more pounds.
While Herefords tend to be unruly, Reba appears to be socialized to humans, her handlers having brought her hay to feed on for weeks now. Reba has yet to produce milk, said Cannon, who worked at a dairy farm in his pre-law enforcement days. And she definitely hasn’t calved to date, he said, which is when milk production begins.
Under the terms of the silent auction, which ends at noon, April 19, bids must be sealed and will be accepted at the sheriff’s office in Spanish Fork or the South Utah Valley Animal Shelter, also in Spanish Fork, where Reba is on display.
Name, contact info and bid amount is to be included on the bid, the winner a binding contract for purchase, payable to the sheriff’s office.
To inspect Reba, contact Central Utah Dispatch at 801-794-3970. Viewing without a sheriff’s deputy present is not allowed. Any questions, contact Sgt. Cannon at 801-404-1912.
“We are hoping to find Reba a forever home,” reads the sheriff’s home page. “Please bid for a chance to take her home with you!”
