Video captures smoke during explosion at Texas dairy farm that killed 18,000 cows
Law enforcement officials in West Texas say a fire at a dairy fire on Monday left 18,000 cattle dead. The fire happened in Castro County, about 70 miles southwest of Amarillo.
"It's mind-boggling," Dimmitt Mayor Roger Malone said. "I don’t think it's ever happened before around here. It's a real tragedy."
It is the biggest single-incident death of cattle in the country since the Animal Welfare Institute, a Washington-based animal advocacy group, began tracking barn and farm fires in 2013. The previous high was a 2020 fire that killed about 400 cows in upstate New York, according to Allie Granger, a policy associate with the organization.
Video shared on TikTok earlier this week showed plumes of smoke rising from the farm as the sounds of cows mooing could be heard. As of this writing, it has surpassed 1.5 million views on the platform and has been reposted by others across social media.
Similar video posted by ABC 7 Amarillo on Facebook credited "Bowie" with footage they shared.
Some viewers may find this video distressing. Viewer discretion advised.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Explosion at Texas dairy farm: 18K cows dead, video shows fire scene
