There’s a new kind of vandal tearing up yards in a South Bay neighborhood.
Cows.
Neighbors in an upscale area of Silver Creek in San Jose say the animals are ripping up the grass and leaving waste all over the place.
The problem started just a couple months ago, and neighbors say the cows have shown up nearly every day since.
"They're not too friendly," resident Soraia Bakhtiari said. "This is a residential area. It's not a ranch, and it's not a village."
Residents on Whitetail Lane say the cows have just moved into the neighborhood and helped themselves to the grass. On Monday night, six cows were grazing and leaving behind waste.
The neighbors have had it, especially one couple trying to sell their house.
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"It makes it harder, and I don't want it ruining the reputation of the neighborhood," Bakhtiari said.
One resident almost ran into a cow outside of her house. Debbie Gong says the animals are intimidating.
"They're big, and sometimes they're on your driveway when you drive home, and it's right there on the driveway," Gong said. "It's very scary."
While there are other cows behind fences down the road, and the street is up against open space, no one knows who these cows belong to. One cow owner in the area blames people partying in nearby Linear Park who knock down the fences, allowing the animals to go through.
The city of San Jose’s Animal Services Center said Wednesday the owner, who thinks the cows belong to him, claims someone has been cutting his fencing.
"We are working with one owner who told us that he thinks it is his cows but we haven’t been able to confirm it yet," said Jay Terrado, animal services spokesman. "But he is volunteering to remove some of the cows that he thinks are the ones that are getting out."
Terrado said the city will work with the owner and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
The neighbors just want the cows to go home.
"It's just not fair," Gong said. "These cows don't belong to this neighborhood, and we shouldn't take the damage."
