A stray cow tranquilised by Department of Agriculture officials had a “coronary attack” and died on the Brewers Bay beach last week, according to Chief Agriculture Officer Bevin Braithwaite. Then officials buried the animal’s carcass there because it was too difficult to move it, he said.
The cow, which appears to have weighed several hundred pounds, died on the beach on June 1 a few feet from the water. A team of agriculture workers came back Friday, buried the animal in a hole and covered the carcass with several feet of sand, leaving a four-foot-high cow-shaped mound on the beach. But Wednesday after residents complained, a team of workers from the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Health Division exhumed the cow and reburied it farther from the beach.
The buried animal won’t pose a public health risk unless it becomes uncovered, according to Carnel Smith, the territory’s chief environmental health officer.
Still, he said that the initial burial was an “error.” After hearing of the incident a few days later, Mr. Smith inspected the site and wanted the animal removed. But it would have taken several days for officials to get the heavy equipment and other needed resources to move it, he said. By that time, it already had been covered by sand, and removing the decomposing carcass may have put workers at risk, Mr. Smith said.
See the June 9, 2011 edition for full coverage.