Wayward buffalo killed at owner's request

NEVADA, Mo. -- A buffalo running at large was killed at the owners request, reported Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman. A Laotian couple living north of Moundville have been raising buffalo, and recently one escaped and wandered the area south of Nevada.

"They were raising buffalo to feed their family," Peckman said. "One got out and was seen north of F on BB and went back into the timber. Yesterday, it was spotted on 1425 Road, south of the country club."

Peckman said the decision to kill the animal was reached by the owner, Nao Xiong, for safety reasons.

"We've looked at several different ways to deal with this," Peckman said. "There just weren't any corrals that were strong enough to hold it. They're very dangerous animals. They can outrun a horse. There weren't any trailers that were available that would have been safe to transport it so the owner made the decision. It's something that had to be done."

The animal was killed and the owners cut the carcass up to take the meat home with them.

"They were raising it and were going to butcher it anyway so it just made sense to go ahead and put it down," Peckman said.

Peckman stressed that all options were considered but for safety reasons the decision to kill the animal was reached.

"All options were considered, greatly," Peckman said. "The decision to put the animal down was the owners. The way the animal was traveling he was going to get in a more populated area. Kids could be out and be in danger. We talked to people who knew more about dealing with buffalo than we did and they all agreed. The conservation agent was there and he used to live up in areas where there were lots of buffalo and he said they were just too dangerous. For the safety of the people, we had to do it."