SOUTH JORDAN — A black, bulky bovine weighing 2,400 pounds, "Dawg" wasn't just a cow to the Saville family. He was sort of a family pet.

"He was just friendly," owner Mike Saville said Thursday. "He had a real long tongue and he'd lick ya. Really, he was quite friendly."

Dawg almost became a steak when Saville first bought him, but he said the steer quickly became too big and so friendly "we just couldn't."

In July 2005, the steer was found stabbed to death on Saville's small farm in South Jordan. Since then, the police investigation into the cow killing has stalled. Now, animal rights activists are hoping to round up new leads.

"We have no idea why someone would do something this gruesome," said Sean Diener of the Utah Animal Rights Coalition (UARC). They heard of the killing and approached Saville about helping find whoever killed Dawg.

UARC announced a $1,000 reward Thursday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible. By the end of the day, the Humane Society of Utah had pledged another $2,500.

Animal rights activists spent the afternoon going door to door in Saville's neighborhood near 11500 South and 2700 West, passing out fliers announcing the reward and asking residents if they'd seen anything.

This once-rural neighborhood is quickly being swallowed up by development and Saville said he believes a gaping hole in a new subdivision's wall may have made people aware of Dawg's otherwise innocuous existence.

"There was people driving by. Maybe someone that thought it was an opportunity to see what it's like to kill a cow," he said. "It was a brutal murder."

Dawg was stabbed repeatedly and someone broke a horn off his head.

"It wasn't right," neighbor Judy Greer said of the killing. Still, she said she did not think the reward would do much to drum up new information about Dawg's killers.

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"It's been long enough. I just haven't heard anything," she said.

UARC is known for its outspoken activism against rodeos, fur shops and lawsuits against anyone who gets in the way of protests. Saville said he does not mind the animal rights activists jumping in to help catch Dawg's killer.

"The ultimate issue here is Dawg and that's where we come together," said UARC member Autumn Wagner. "This is where we meet at the minds."


E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

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