GILBERT, Ariz. — A Gilbert neighborhood is getting some unwanted visitors.
"A whole herd of cattle walking straight up the street," Jamie Ineson said. "I was in awe. Like, where did all these cattle come from?"
Living in a somewhat rural area, Adora Trails residents expect to see an occasional animal or two in their neighborhood, but some people told 12News they're starting to see large herds on a regular basis.
"It was fun at first, kind of cool to see random cows here and there everywhere, along with their babies and the whole herd, but it just got not so cool," Ineson said.
Valerie Welch said the animals are starting to become a safety concern in their community.
"A cow came out and actually ran into someone's vehicle, into the side of it, and did some severe damage to the car," Welch said.
It's a just as upsetting issue to the rancher who owns the cattle.
"In a month, we've lost about $20,000 worth of cattle," Nancy Mix said.
The cows are coming from a ranch on the Gila River Indian Reservation.
Mix, who owns the cattle with her husband, said people are cutting the fence that is supposed to keep the cows on Tribal Land.
"People love to go out and ride their quads and they'll chase the cattle and they'll have a heart attack and just die in the desert," Mix said.
Mix said the fence doesn't belong to any of the ranchers, but together they try to keep up with repairing it as best they can.
"As (a rancher) was fixing the fence, someone about 300 feet away behind a tree cut the fence at the same time he was fixing it," Mix said.
Both the ranchers and residents want to see some sort of accountability, hoping to find a solution that keeps people from cutting the fence and the cows where they belong.
If people come across the cows in the meantime, Mix recommends people wave their arms to keep them away, or if they're driving, to slow down and pay attention to signage.
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