Pittsylvania Co. livestock died from natural causes in mystery death cases

The nine calves that were found dead two weeks ago on a farm near Renan died of natural causes, according to County Administrator Dan Sleeper.

“The calves died of natural causes complicated by extreme weather,” Sleeper said Tuesday, referring to results from an autopsy on one of the calves performed by a Gretna veterinarian.

Sleeper declined to comment further on the matter.

Nine calves were found dead about two weeks ago on the farm of McKinley Dalton — bringing the number of cattle killed there in the past year to 16. At the time, no one was sure how they died. A message left for Dalton on Tuesday evening was not returned by press time.

Kenneth Crews, a part-time farmer whose land borders Dalton’s farm on two sides, had expressed con-cern about the incident and remains unconvinced the calves died natural deaths.

“I find it very odd that nine calves would die in one night of natural causes,” Crews said Tuesday.

The felled calves bore no marks, and their carcasses were spread out as if they had been chased, said Staunton River Supervisor Marshall Ecker. He expressed skepticism of the autopsy results.

“I’m not sure they’re natural causes,” Ecker said Tuesday.

Ecker believes a bobcat or a pack of dogs could have run them to death.

Chatham-Blairs Supervisor Hank Davis said he agrees with the autopsy report.

“If it’s a qualified veterinarian that did it (the autopsy), I would take it at face value,” Davis said Tuesday. “I wouldn’t have any reason to question it.”