Cherokee County Family's Pet Elk Dies; Reward Up To $3,000 To Find Shooter

We have new details now in the efforts to find out who shot a family's pet bull elk.

A few weeks ago, someone with a rifle shot a 3-month-old elk, "Tank," at Doug Diebold's property near Fort Gibson Lake, where he keeps 40 exotic animals as pets.

Since then, he and his family have worked to nurse Tank back to health.

"He was in pain, and you could tell when you went out to get him. He would just lay his head on my shoulder, and he just give up, he was done," Diebold said.

The young bull elk never regained its strength and had to be euthanized.

Diebold is saddened, upset and angry.

"Crazy people are crazy people. There's nothing you can do about it," Diebold said.

The one thing Diebold is trying to do now is find the person who shot the elk.

"We won't give up. We're very hard-headed, and as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter how long it takes, we're going to find the guy," he said.

10/3/2013 Related Story: Reward Offered After Cherokee County Man's Pet Elk Is Shot

A reward is up to $3,000, and a Muskogee sign company is also lending a hand. When he heard what happened to the baby elk, John Thomas wanted to do something to help.

"I really can't believe anybody would stoop that low to kill a penned up animal like that," Thomas said.

The sign company, Advanced Work Zone Services, is making a giant vinyl sign that will be posted at Diebold's property, with the hope it will generate leads for investigators.

"Whoever did this definitely needs to be brought to justice," Thomas said.

"That was just a senseless thing to do," Diebold said.

Anyone with information that leads to the person responsible for shooting the young elk is urged to call 918-683-4455.