After stray cattle wandered onto her parents’ land earlier this week, Katie Toney called the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association in Macon, wondering what to do.
To her surprise, the association called up the Henry County Sheriff’s Department.
“There was confusion initially on who to contact,” Toney told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “(The) team immediately took action and reached out to the Henry County Sheriff’s Department. Within a couple of hours, they were out in full force.”
The Sheriff’s Office dispatched a team as residents reported cows wandering around the nearby Wilkerson and Rex Road areas.
Cattle have been roaming the area for several days, tying up traffic and causing wrecks. A driver was injured after colliding with a cow around 3 a.m. Monday. Ziya Coleman told Channel 2 Action News that she was not able to see the cows at that hour.
The collision completely ruined her car and scraped and bruised her body.
“There were three male cows in the middle of Rex Road,” Coleman wrote on GoFundMe, where she is raising money for a new car. “I’m hurt and traumatized from this experience, but I can’t afford to not have a car. This was my mother’s car that she’d let me use to get around, but now I’m stranded.”
Coleman is currently studying to become a dental hygienist and works weekends. She said she needs a car to drive to her clinic daily during the school year, but she is struggling to afford repairs while saving money for her upcoming graduation and licensing exams.
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office said they are currently working to gather the cattle away from the road, in order to avoid further collisions. Sheriff Reginald Scandrett advised residents to proceed with caution in the area Wednesday, asking them to drive slowly and to call an office information line (617-215-3105) if they see any stray cattle.
“These animals are often unpredictable and can cause serious accidents and injuries,” Scandrett said Wednesday. “We... encourage drivers to slow down and use extra caution, in this area, until the situation has been resolved.”
Scandrett also asked the public for help in finding the cattle’s owners, who have not yet been identified. Members of the public, including Toney, have continued to participate in the effort to round up and relocate the stray cattle, as well.
Toney said she “could not say enough” about the Sheriff Department’s swift action after her initial report.
She turned to Facebook early on Wednesday to aid the Department, asking her Facebook friends if they knew anyone who could “rope some steers” and transport the cows to an enclosed location.
Still, she said, gathering some of the cows has proven difficult.
“They did hide,” she wrote on the social media site. “They are still on the run, but we have a plan to get them once they show back up.”
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