MACHIAS, N.Y. (WKBW) — The owner of a bison farm in the Town of Machias returned home to a sight he never expected. One of his animals was dead, killed by what he believes to be a gunshot fired from the street.
The Steffenhagen Farm in Cattaraugus County has different kinds of livestock. Owner, Tim Steffenhagen, raises bison, elk, pheasants and more, but Easter weekend proved an unexpected time for this 27-year-old farm.
Steffenhagen: “[Friday], I was feeding the animals, everything was good. Next day, when I came back from work, I found the animal lying dead.”
Q: “What is your best theory as to what happened?”
Steffenhagen: “It appears somebody stopped, right off the road, put a gun out their window, and shot it. It’s about 100 yards off the road. And left, just left it there…. It was eating hay, still had hay in its mouth, that’s telling me it died instantly.”
Q: “Why would anybody do that?”
Steffenhagen: “The Million-dollar question.”
Steffenhagen told me the wound was too small to be from anything other than a gun.
The bison on this farm are raised and sold to hunting preserves, restaurants, zoos and more. This one was no exception.
“This animal was already sold, it was going to be going in August, the price around $2,500,” Steffenhagen said. “It’s discouraging for mankind that somebody would shoot something just to shoot something.”
With no answers, Steffenhagen tells me he’s working with the New York State Police to figure out what happened. I reached out to the State Police for more information, but have not heard back.
