HARRIS TOWNSHIP -- Two 17-year-old men from Escanaba have been charged with animal torturing or killing.
Nicholas Michael Leisner and Peter John Sauve were arraigned in Menominee County on Tuesday after being arrested for allegedly stabbing three cattle, causing severe injuries.
Menominee County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a call at 7:26 a.m. on Monday to a farm in Harris Township. They discovered that three Red Angus cattle had been herded into a cattle chute and a steel bar was used to impale them. Some of the cattle were also beaten with a steel rod and a shovel.
Two female cattle were later euthanized as a result of severe injuries, and a two-year-old bull is being treated by a veterinarian for life-threatening injuries.
Leisner and Sauve were arrested after an investigation by sheriff deputies.
"Vindictive behavior was likely a motive in the torture of these beef cattle," said Menominee County Sheriff Kenny Marks. "Illegal consumption of alcohol beverage was also a factor in this incident."
The two teens are held in the Menominee County Jail on $1,000 bond. If convicted, the crime is a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison.
"The behavior of vindictively torturing and killing animals will not be tolerated," Sheriff Marks stated.
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