Thirty-two bison in the Quapaw Nation herd died this August after going days without water in brutal heat. The dead included 26 young females, five calves and one adult bull. A former ranch manager now faces 63 counts of animal cruelty, but criminal charges alone won’t stop this from happening again.

According to court records, the pumps feeding the herd’s only water tank were turned off on Aug. 18. The empty tank wasn’t discovered until Aug. 26, eight days later. Both ponds in the pasture had already dried up. Each bison drinks about 15 gallons a day, and the tribe’s agriculture director estimated the tank would empty within a day of losing its supply. August highs averaged 99 degrees, with almost no rain.

That means the herd may have gone a week or more with nothing to drink. Court records give no reason the water was cut off in the first place.

The Quapaw Nation Business Committee has the power to make sure this never happens again. It can require daily, logged water checks for the herd, a backup water source and low-water alarm on every tank, and a written plan for extreme heat. It can also call on Downstream, which runs the water tower, to explain publicly why the pumps were shut off and who was told.

The former manager is entitled to a fair process in court. The surviving herd needs protection now, before next summer’s heat arrives.

Sign the petition to demand water safeguards and answers for the 32 bison who died.