FORT WORTH -- The move to a new home for a one-eyed horse and pet cow who were paired in a two-for-one auction sale got temporarily sidetracked after cattle rustlers stole the good Samaritan bidder's horse trailer.

"Somebody needed my horse trailer worse than I did," quipped Tommy Russell, a soft-hearted cowboy from Fort Worth who paid $375 for the unlikely pair at a Tarrant County auction Saturday.

On Saturday night, Russell, 53, went to a leased pasture in Azle where he runs 44 head of cattle and found that rustlers had cut the gate lock and stolen his horse trailer and an undetermined number of cattle.

"Two trucks and a trailer came in, and two trucks and two trailers left," Russell said Sunday. "You could see where they put up temporary fencing. I have no idea how many cows they got."

The Tarrant County Sheriff's Department, which originally rounded up the unlikely auction pair as strays, is taking care of the animals until Russell can pick them up, said Kristi Hendricks, who handles online auctions for Tarrant County.

Russell said he had planned to pick up the animals after church Sunday.

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