Posted on 06/04/2005 2:16:52 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
A South Texas sheriff is warning ranchers to keep a closer eye on their cattle as more and more cows, bulls and calves are reported missing across the state.
Karnes County Sheriff David Jalufka said cattle rustlers recently struck a Gillett area ranch in the northern tip of the county, stealing up to 15 calves and leaving 13 cows to die after blocking their access to water.
Rancher Peggy Kowalik's loss totaled nearly $20,000.
"It's a hell of a loss," Kowalik said Friday, adding the thieves didn't take her branded cows, but instead rounded up her younger, unmarked calves.
The price for calves is at its highest since at least July 2002, when the price per pound rebounded over a dollar, said Carol Pittman with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Texas Statistical Office.
Pittman said the price for a live calf closed at $1.45 per pound in April, up from $1.18 per pound the same month last year. A 500-pound calf could sell for about $725.
Larry Gray of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association said the demand for cattle is at a peak as a result of the increased beef prices and a renewed interest among ranchers to restock their herds after weathering years of drought conditions.
As a result, Gray said, the association, which was founded 128 years ago to fight cattle thefts, has been inundated with reports of stolen livestock.
"The calls are coming in on a daily basis," he said.
Gray said the Fort Worth-based group currently is searching for about 500 head of cattle that have been reported missing from ranches throughout Texas.
He said the association has certified peace officers with Special Ranger commissions stationed in every region of the state to ensure no stolen cattle are sold at livestock markets.
Branded cattle are easier to trace than others, even if their brands have been altered, Gray said.
Kowalik said the calves stolen from her last week hadn't yet been branded because of their age, but had ear tags.
She said she'd recently culled her herd, selling her older and less promising head of cattle, leaving behind her prized calves and cows.
"This was the crème of the crop," Kowalik said.
The sheriff believes professional cattle rustlers committed the theft because evidence left behind showed they had little trouble loading up the calves into their trailer. The thieves failed, however, to leave a gate open that would allow the remaining cows left behind access to water.
"This is a pretty good payday for people who can put 10 to 12 head of cattle on a gooseneck trailer," Jalufka said.
Gary Baros, an inspector for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, said no traces of the stolen calves have been found, although investigators continue to search livestock markets.
Kowalik, meanwhile, remains in shock over the theft.
"I just never dreamed this would happen," she said.
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jzarazua@express-news.net
Get a rope!
Amazing that still goes on.
Get a Rope Ping!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
I wonder why they don't brand 'em that young. Greater risk of infection, perhaps?
Now here's a good use for implantable RFID chips.
It's legal in TX to shoot to kill anyone trespassing on your land after dark. I hope a few of these ranchers will lie in wait for these pukes to come after their cattle.
We used to have some livestock theives come out and kill cows in the pasture and cut them up with chain-saws. Took a quarter and left the rest to rot.
Yes I have heard of that happening. Where is your ranch?
Was....sold out to go sailing...
Florida. We were one of the few Angus producers in our neck of the woods...
Where is Tom Horn when you need him? Wait a minute, they hanged him didn't they?
sheeeeesse!! , got here to late by now there's enough rope to go coast to coast .
Amazing that still goes on.
Put a computer chip in them.
"Is cattle rustling still a hanging offense in Texas?"
In some counties.
"We used to have some livestock theives come out and kill cows in the pasture and cut them up with chain-saws. Took a quarter and left the rest to rot."
I've seen the same remnants left by deer poachers.
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