Farmer to pay $28,000 in dispute over cattle

More than four years after the loss of 27 cows, apparently through drowning in an icy slough, a Regina judge has ordered a Dysart-area farmer to pay for all but one of the unlucky animals.

Justice Meghan McCreary put an end to a bitter dispute over the cattle this month. She ruled that Darren Shindle, who runs a farm about 70 kilometres northwest of Regina, did not take reasonable care of cows entrusted to his care. In a decision published this week, she said he was responsible for “mass deaths” in a herd he leased from a nearby farmer.

The case centred on a contract drawn up over Lyle Davis’ kitchen table in October 2013. Davis was undergoing hip surgery and needed someone to care for his herd of 89 cows. In return for a small fee, he offered Shindle any calves born to his animals over the coming year, according to the decision.

The next October, Davis called to reclaim his cows. But Shindle returned only 62 of them. He claimed the other 27 had wandered onto a frozen slough on his farm, broken through the ice and drowned.

Davis only saw the carcasses of his cows in the fall. According to the decision, he could not confirm they were his from the nondescript remains, and initially suspected that the cows “had been sold.”

The case went to mediation, and Davis said it was difficult to keep his temper under control as he sought to reclaim damages. Mediation fell through, he said, and the case went to Regina’s Court of Queen’s Bench.

Shindle based part of his case on a clause in the 2013 agreement, which included what might be called a death mulligan.

“In the event that a cow or calf dies, then no replacement is required, and no responsibility will be brought to bear on either party,” the agreement read.

Shindle argued that this absolved him of liability if “any” cow perished. Davis countered that the clause was meant to provide “leeway,” given the ordinary bovine mortality rate of about one per 100 animals. “A cow,” he insisted, meant one cow.

McCreary had apparently agreed with that sentiment. That meant the case came down to whether the cows were lost due to “neglect.”

She noted that Shindle could not explain how the animals came to wander onto the ice. He provided no evidence that he had watched over them regularly. She said he couldn’t even describe when, specifically, they died. McCreary recognized that Shindle still had a right to one dead cow without penalty. She ordered him to pay the cost of the other 26 bovines. That came to $28,600, plus interest.