A Texas businessman and ranch owner is being charged for the deaths of 32 bison last winter.

Forty-four-year-old Jeffrey Scott Hawn of Austin has been charged with 32 counts of animal cruelty, one count of theft of more than $20,000 and a one count of criminal mischief.

Prosecutors allege that he “tortured, needlessly mutilated or needlessly killed” the bison in Park County, Colorado. The animals belonged to another rancher.

The bison were found in late march.

A few days before, Hawn had sued the bison's owner, claiming they were stampeding onto his property.