An area rancher wants answers as to why someone would kill his cattle and threaten his livelihood. It's one of several local reports of livestock being killed. But, instead of being shot, these cows are being poisoned. It's happening on Carl Hempel's farm just across the Oklahoma/Kansas state line in Caney, Kansas. And, now Hempel could be forced out of business.

Hempel first noticed his cattle were not eating well three weeks ago. They were losing weight and then they started dying.

"We didn't know what was going on," he says. "We kept watching and kept trying to feed them and they just got to where they wouldn't eat, period."

Like most ranchers, Carl checks on his cattle almost daily. And, almost daily, he's been finding his cows, all pregnant with calves, dead all over his property. In all, five are dead and fourteen others are extremely sick.

He says cows who apparently ate poison, burned their noses, throats and tongues. Many simply stopped eating and some have lost between 200 and 400 pounds.

Ne has not only lost cows, but calves as well. Each is valued at between six hundred to one thousand dollars. And, that doesn't include the calves that could have been born for many years to come.

"The calf is an every year deal," he says. "That cow will give, and there's a profit on it that you reap every year. That's the part that's going to hurt because in the future, I'm not going to have that."

Carl says he will be able to pay back his bank loans, but won't have any cattle to rebuild his herd.

Hempel says he doesn't yet know what kind of poison is killing his cattle. Samples from the cattle are being tested to determine what kind of poison was used. They hope to have the results later this week.

Carl urges other ranchers to start watching their herds more closely. He says if it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.