WEST MEAD TOWNSHIP — When a neighbor came by Saturday night to tell Charles Hood that two of his cows were laying down on the ground in his pasture along the road, he knew it wasn’t good.

He assumed the cows were dead, and he was right. What he never expected was finding each cow dead from a single gunshot wound to the head. The carcasses were otherwise pristine.

Now police are asking for the public’s help solving this crime.

The two black beef cattle — one a year old, the other about four years old — were found in the Hood pasture that runs along Tamarack Drive, and township Police Chief Chip Brown said it appears that the killings took place between 5:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday.

Given that there are a number of houses in the immediate area and that one would expect some traffic on the road that time of day, the chief reckons that the weapon was probably a handgun, given that the noise of a long-gun would have likely attracted immediate attention.

The older animal weighed about 700 pounds, Hood said, estimating the dollar value of each at between $1,200 and $1,400. Hood’s raised beef cattle on the property for years, and estimates his current herd at about 20. There have been few incidents on his property in the past, he said, and nothing anywhere near the seriousness of Saturday’s attack.

“This is somebody who doesn’t care a whole lot about other people’s property,” said Brown, and if the offender or offenders are caught, they may face a range of charges that could include criminal mischief, trespassing, firearms violations and restitution.

As part of his effort to ensure the crime is solved, Brown asks that anyone in the area of the Hood property between 5:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday who may have seen or heard something call West Mead police at 336-1005.

“I have not seen anything like this before,” said the chief, who has served on the West Mead force for about 14 years.

Pat Bywater can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at pbywater@meadvilletribune.com.