PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2017-01-11 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Did 30,000 Cows Freeze to Death in a Winter Storm? (en)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • In January 2017, a photograph purportedly showing a group of cows that had been apparently frozen solid was circulated on Facebook along with the claim that 30,000 animals had just died in a winter storm: Both the photograph displayed here and its accompanying claim are legitimate. However, while this meme appeared again (and was mistaken for current) in January 2017, this graphic actually references a winter storm that occurred at the end of December 2015. Weather.com reported that more than 15,000 cows died during Winter Storm Goliath in Texas, while another 20,000 froze to death in New Mexico: The photograph is also real, although we were not able to determine a definite source. An uncropped version of the image was published by Tri-State Livestock News shortly after the storm, which showed a group of frozen (or near-frozen) cattle on the side of the road: The other part of the meme heavily implied that the cows froze to death out of neglect, because nobody felt the need to bring them inside in the cold weather. The truth is, of course, more complicated. A January 5, 2016 report from the Houston Chronicle detailed efforts farmers undertook to protect their cattle from the freak storm: A similar story unfolded in New Mexico, which was swept by the same storm: The deaths of the cattle dramatically affected the livelihoods of farmers in both states. It is extremely unlikely that any farmer (dependent on their animals for money and food) would cavalierly leave their main source of income and food out in the snow to freeze to death, despite what this meme implies. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url