Eps 413: The wide ranging world of cattle rustling
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Gertrude Boyd
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Authorities say the rise in cattle crime is linked to a weakening economy, soaring beef prices and GPS devices that allow intruders to navigate wide open areas. Livestock farmers in Western states report an increase in the number of crimes against cattle committed through the noise of cattle in a region where theft of cows was once a criminal offence. State ranchers say that a rise in cattle crime is linked not only to the slumping economy and soaring beef prices, but also to portable global tracking systems that have made it easier to track cattle and other animals using GPS technology.
For ranchers in the open states of the West, trademarks are the only return address for a cow and are printed on the skins of hidden animals and are seen as important guidance for Western agricultural inspectors who must verify ownership of cattle when they are sold, shipped to slaughter or transported over a certain distance. But for the several hundred brand inspectors who monitor Rangelands, which spans the nation's most rugged and remote terrain in the region, there are many ways to beat the system, "said John D'Amato, brand inspector with the California Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
Key players who know each other well throughout the industry make it difficult to unload stolen cattle, according to D'Amato.
The state's trademark commissioner, Chris Whitney, noted that the market itself plays a big role in deterring noisier, not only in the state but also in other parts of the country.
Inspectors who inspect animals before auctions and keep the money when property issues arise have made it a risky business to turn stolen cattle into cash, according to Whitney. Cattle are inspected at a cattle auction in Texas with spuds, a fence - a climbing fence - and other equipment.
While the Western archetype of rustling may be a grim, dusty rogue on horseback, driving cattle from their home farms, updating their own brands, or luring cattle grazing in the middle of the night in a truck, the truth is more mundane. Sometimes no one is smart, but if a cow has a calf, you can label it with your own brands, and if the neighbors confuse their cattle with yours, they can tell everyone, because the law requires that you report all animals you find to trademark inspectors if you have not already notified the owner.
Western farmers who park their cows on sprawling federal pastures in the spring expect to lose at least some of them to injuries, disease, or predators. When ranchers gather their herds in late fall and sort out which animals are kept for breeding, offered for sale, and which are brought to slaughter, missing animals suspected of being stolen often go unnoticed for months or even years. By the end of the year, the cattle are said to have spent so much time on the road that they are considered lost or missing and not stolen, although evidence may indicate theft.
In an industry that generates billions of dollars in revenue annually, theft can be costly for ranchers. When cattle prices soared in 2008, the unit examined 3,000 animals reported stolen, and agents are said to have recovered more than $1 million in stolen animals and equipment on average - an effort that often involves agricultural investigators from surrounding states.
But there is one thing we need not see anecdotally or statistically in Oklahoma: the impact of cattle rustling on the livestock industry in other parts of the country, such as Texas.
Cattle wait for auction at Texas A & M's Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Fort Worth, Texas. The incident further shocked farmers in Canterbury, who learned in December that their cattle had been stolen from their farm in the city of Canterbury.
In the US and other parts of the world, ranchers are also exploiting the natural resources of rivers and streams. The 500 cows that had crossed the creek were quickly picked up by dairy farms. It is also unlikely that the theft of 500 cattle from a dairy farm in a rural area of Texas would go unnoticed, observers say.
Stolen cattle are easy to transport because they can be disguised as legal goods. Cattle herders recruit and arm land warriors to steal cattle sold in slaughterhouses and cities, and transport it to neighboring countries where it is sold.
There is a lack of support in East African countries because the region's governments do not seem to regard the noise of cattle as a serious crime. In many East African countries, there are no specific laws requiring the origin of cattle and slaughterhouses. This leaves communities vulnerable to armed rioters and complicates law enforcement efforts.