When someone obtains a gun in America, it’s usually to protect their home from intruders. These intruders are typically people looking to steal or cause harm. However, that wasn’t the case for one Florida man. Hung Trinh had been feuding with his neighbor’s cows for a while now. This was because the animals had repeatedly wandered onto his property. The situation escalated to the point where Trinh reportedly warned his neighbor that he would shoot the animals if they came onto his land again.
He wasn’t bluffing. When one particularly adventurous cow crossed the property line, Trinh shot it five times. The bullets struck the cow in the gut, chest, and rear leg. When the animal’s owner noticed their calf was missing, they went looking and found it badly injured. Horrified, they contacted the sheriff.
Deputies arrived on the scene and, after assessing the cow’s condition, called a veterinarian. Unfortunately, the injuries were so severe that the animal had to be euthanized. While Trinh may have believed his actions were justified, law enforcement disagreed. He now faces charges of animal cruelty and stealing a farm animal intended for commercial use.
After obtaining a warrant, authorities searched his property and found a .22 caliber firearm believed to have been used in the shooting. Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a Facebook post,
“We know how much these animals mean to our farming community, and we will not tolerate these actions. I am proud of my Agriculture Unit for their immediate response and ability to make an arrest in this case.”
People on the internet also found the Florida man’s actions unacceptable. Many considered it ridiculous and wildly disproportionate for someone to use a gun on a cow. It’s one thing to aim a weapon at someone threatening your life, but an entirely different matter to shoot an animal that simply wandered around. As one Redditor commented, “Stand Your Ground Beef.”
However, not everyone was against Trinh. Some users sympathized with his frustration. A few who had grown up near farms understood how aggravating it could be when livestock repeatedly trespassed and damaged property. One user shared, “We had neighbors growing up that ‘wanted to be farmers,’ and because we lived outside city limits, they were allowed to have cattle. It was so frustrating when they didn’t know how to keep them secured properly. We had to return the cows and clean up after them. I was just a kid and still wanted to shoot those cows.”
