CHARLESTON, W.Va. — One of the controversial cows that was brought to West Virginia to diversify the state herd has died.
Express Cow No. 512 died sometime between Sunday, Jan. 21, and Monday morning, Jan. 22, said Crescent Gallagher, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture.
The cow had cost the state about $6,000.
Express Cow No. 512, which refers to her tag, was one of four cows that were purchased in 2016 under the administration of former Agriculture Secretary Walt Helmick. The total cost was $33,000.
The Helmick administration said the cows possessed superior genetics and would strengthen herds in West Virginia.
Critics called the purchase a waste, and legislators questioned whether the cows truly would diversify the state herd.
The purchase became an offbeat issue heading into the election between Helmick, a Democrat, and Kent Leonhardt, the Republican who won.
A veterinarian who examined the cow after she died found a lesion or tumor on small intestine that had started folding in on itself, Gallagher said.
“This was the only abnormality that was found and was believed to be cause of death. We also took tissue, organ samples and sent them lab for further observation,” Gallagher said.
“In layman’s terms, we believe the cow had cancer and that was the cause of death.”
Gallagher said there is no way of knowing whether the cow had the tumor when it was purchased.
“Staff examined the cows when they were purchased but it would have been near impossible to identify a lesion/tumor like the one that most likely ended this cow’s life,” Gallagher said.
He said there was no guarantee as part of the original purchase.
The cows were bought from Oklahoma. Back then, the Agriculture Department said the cows would help emerging cattle farmers improve their beef stock.
The state Farm Bureau and Republicans in the Legislature said the purchase was unnecessary and represented governmental overreach.
Since the cows wound up in West Virginia anyway, the current Agriculture Department has been working to get them to breed. Two successfully bred over the summer. Two did not and were trying again.
The cow that died had bred once but had not yet bred again.