Fort Collins Company Involved in Cattle Rustling Scheme Lawsuit
It's a Colorado and Utah catfight. Or should I say cow-fight or cattle battle.
A Fort Collins cattle business is suing a Utah feed lot for allegedly operating a cattle rustling scheme that cost the company nearly $2 million, according to The Denver Post.
The Fort Collins-based Titan Feeding LLC filed the lawsuit last month in Larimer County District Court.
The lawsuit alleges that the Utah-based Corey Cattle Company sold Titan's cattle without their knowledge, but continued to charged the company for the animals' food and care.
Cory Cattle Company has denied all the allegations, promising to prove their innocence.
The two companies first began working together in 2017, when Titan began buying cattle from Corey Cattle Company owner Michael Corey.
Corey arranged to house and feed Titan's animals on his property in Utah, while billing Titan for food until the cattle grew big enough to be repurchased.
According to the lawsuit, Corey sold half of Titan's cattle, but continued to send fake billing statements to collect money for their food.
Titan estimates the damages from Corey's alleged actions to be around $1.91 million. On top of that amount, the company believes that Corey stole livestock from other customers as well.
The lawsuit is asking for financial compensation for the stolen animals, contract disputes, disruptions to Titan's operations, and more.
Cory Cattle Company, represented by Denver law firm Davis Graham & Stubbs, released a statement in response to the allegations: "Corey Cattle strongly disagrees with the accusations and looks forward to refuting the allegations in the complaint."
It is uncertain as to how Titan became aware of the alleged activity, but the company retrieved all of its cattle from Corey's lot on June 29.
The lawsuit states that company trucks picked up 958 animals, when there were supposed to be close to 2,000 cattle.