A rancher near Canton, Kan. found one of his heifers dead in its tracks and its eye cut out.

John Shearer owns over 200 cattle and while tending his heard on New Years Day, he found one of his cattle dead.

"The closer we got, we saw that there was something that wasn't right and of course as we pulled up onto her, we saw the eye gone. [We] got out and looked her over and saw what happened and called the authorities," Shearer said.

A nearby Game Warden says that the what happened to the cow at the moment is not explainable.

Shearer says that the cow did not die of natural causes; he believes that the cow died in its tracks.

"We knew that somebody had done this, it wasn't a natural act or varmints," Shearer added.

Shearer is offering a $5,000 reward for the arrest of the guilty party.

He estimates the cow was worth between $3,500 and $4,000 and was capable of producing thousands of dollars more in offspring.

The McPherson County Sheriff's Office is aware of the issue. Shearer asks you contact their office at (620) 241-1225 with information.

A cow mutilation occurred two weeks ago in Harvey County. The Harvey County Sheriff is asking cattle owners to watch their herds and be vigilant.

The Newton Kansan reports that a bull was found mutilated in Harvey County. The bull was castrated but there were no obvious signs of what killed the animal.