FAIRPLAY, Colo. - The chairman and chief executive of one of Seattle's biggest software companies is accused of animal cruelty and theft in the slaughter of 32 bison on a Colorado ranch in March.

An arrest warrant issued Thursday names 44-year-old Jeffrey Scott Hawn, chairman, president and chief executive of Attachmate, who lives in Austin, Texas and controls the ranch where the bison were shot.

An Austin listing for Hawn repeatedly rang busy Thursday and his Denver attorney, Steve Csajaghy, did not immediately return a call.

The bison were found in late March strewn across hundreds of snow-covered acres about 85 miles southwest of Denver.

Sheriff Fred Wegener has said they had wandered off the ranch of their owners, Monte and Tracy Downare, but according to the warrant affidavit, three bison were killed on Hawn's ranch; eight on Bureau of Land Management property; four on U.S. Forest Service property; 14 on the property belonging to Catherine L. Primm; and three on the property of Robert Lemm. Seven of the animals were pregnant.

Hawn had filed a lawsuit a few days earlier saying the Downares' bison had been stampeding onto his property and damaging or destroying trees, fences and a satellite dish.

Steve Csajaghy, Hawn's Denver lawyer, has said his client had no choice but to get rid of them.

"He had to protect himself at that point," Csajaghy said in March.

Monte Downare filed suit a month after the bison were found, claiming 14 hunters were hired to kill them. The lawsuit claims "outrageous conduct" that caused emotional distress.

Wegener has said deputies questioned about a dozen hunters who claimed they had permission to shoot the bison. Their names haven't been released and Wegener hasn't said whether they will face charges.

Bison are considered a domesticated species in Colorado and are not covered by hunting and wildlife laws.

Hunts are allowed on private ranches, and Downare has advertised organized bison hunting on his ranch in the past.

According to the Rocky Mountain News, Hawn purchased the ranch in 1995.

Hawn faces 32 counts of animal cruelty and one count each of theft and criminal mischief.