Stray cows on Guam’s roadways have prompted senators to consider updating the law on how the government handles free-roaming livestock.
“This is not a theoretical problem,” Sen. Telo Taitague said during a hearing Monday. Staffers at her office "have received calls from residents who have encountered a stray livestock in their neighborhoods and on their roadways. Some residents have reported cattle wandering onto their yard and damaging landscape, gardens, private property infrastructure. One resident shared an experience where a stray cow had wandered onto their property and gave birth right in their yard.”
Bill 330-38, introduced by Taitague, would update Guam laws to allow village mayors to work with the Department of Agriculture to seize and secure wandering livestock and hold the owners financially responsible.
If the owners cannot be found or don’t claim responsibility, the animals can be sold at auction.
The stray livestock problem is especially noticeable in Hâgat, where cattle roam on Route 2 near Nimitz Beach. Village Vice Mayor Christopher Ferejan, who supports the bill, said elected officials are familiar with calls about property damage, traffic and safety.
“We need the funding, we need the infrastructure,” he said. “We can't just throw this down the throats and expect it to work without, you know, the funding sources. You know, I just hope this is not similar to the stray dog issue."
Agriculture Director Chelsa Muña said the department does not have a trailer to remove livestock, and a secure fenced area and feed would be needed to contain animals once they are captured.
The department has conducted outreach in Hågat and other villages, and although tagging of livestock is a legal requirement, nobody has registered a brand on the island in several years, according to Territorial Veterinarian Mariana Turner.
Fejeran said there is a disconnect between what the law requires and what is actually happening.
He said the last time Turner conducted an outreach in the village, “she said there was no cows or stray cattle registered in the Hågat area, so I'm just wondering, because there's some cattle walking with tags around them, but none of them are registered at Department of Agriculture.”
“The last time we did a round up, nobody owns any of those, but then the minute they were locked up in some area, we had like 10 people coming to say, ‘Oh, that's my cow, that's my cow,’ but there was no way to identify which one was which,” he said. “So I think that will probably be one of the challenges as we move forward with this.”
Taitague and Agriculture officials said the program could be started with an initial $200,000 for a trailer, fencing and feed.
