Texas family devastated after man sold their missing pet steer to a meatpacking plant
Blackbean was family.
The 5-year-old steer was bottle-fed since birth, enjoyed being scratched behind the ears and was loved as a family pet by the Spikestons.
But these days, Sarah and J.R. Spikeston are walking around with heavy hearts because Blackbean was killed last month at a Texas meat processing plant after he slipped away from a Wise County pasture, was found and then sold.
It’s believed the person who found Blackbean couldn’t locate his owner and later sold him in January.
“Losing him has been devastating,” said Sarah Spikeston, of Denton County, on Thursday.
The Spikestons learned that Blackbean was sold just weeks after he went missing in December.
“We held a sliver of hope that he had been sold to a feedlot that might still have him alive to fatten him up more or to a family,” Sarah said. “But he had been sold to a meat packer who processes in a few days. We were late.”
Blackbean came to Sarah Spikeston when he was about a year old from a ranch in Arkansas after he was rejected by his mother.
The wife of the rancher kept him alive and walked three miles with a backpack of warm milk to feed him twice a day, Sarah said Thursday.
“He tested boundaries, which resulted in me upgrading my fence over the years,” she said.
Sarah and her husband, J.R., bought land in Denton County, and Blackbean was moved to a friend’s pasture near Decatur in May 2019. That was to give the Spikestons time to get the new Denton County pasture ready for Blackbean.
The Spikestons’ friend had 55 acres with a herd of cattle. Blackbean, described as a rescued animal, enjoyed his stay.
Blackbean shared his life with the Spikestons as they also rescued Cheyenne, a horse; Trina the pony; Brightly, a middle-aged donkey; Patty, a 3-year-old Jersey cow; Quinoa, an Angus calf; BB, Shadow and Slugger, the goats; a flock of chickens; eight pigs and a turkey.
The couple’s plan was to build a fence around their new Denton County home, giving Blackbean and their cow, Patty, and the larger animals more room to roam.
But in December, Blackbean slipped away.
Searching for Blackbean
“At the time, we weren’t too worried because they have many acres in the woods that they hadn’t been able to check,” Sarah said.
“The fence line was not damaged anywhere that they could find. We increasingly got more worried.”
More searches ensued. No county stray notices were reported, and neighbors were not reporting finding any cattle.
Finally, a Wise County resident reported he had found Blackbean on his property and sold him in Decatur.
The Spikestons contacted the Decatur Livestock Market, where Blackbean was sold. Immediately, the Spikestons printed up fliers with photographs of Blackbean, asking residents if they had bought him. They also offered a $1,000 reward.
“He had been sold on Jan. 18,” Sarah Spikeston said.
Officials with the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in Fort Worth told WFAA it is common for strays to be sold.
Texas law states when someone finds livestock, they have five days to report it to the sheriff’s department. Officials at the sheriff’s department must post it in a newspaper, online or at the courthouse twice within the next 15 days.
After that, the person who finds livestock is allowed to sell it and collect the money it cost to impound and feed the livestock, but they can’t keep the money unless the owner doesn’t come forward in 180 days.
“It has devastated our friends, too,” Sarah Spikeston said. “We were so close to bringing him home.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 4:21 PM.
