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Cattle rustling lives on in TexasLUBBOCK, Texas (AP)--A vestige of the Old West, cattle rustling lives on in remote parts of Texas, partly driven by high beef prices. "There are more cattle rustling cases today than there ever have been before," said Dean Bohannon, one of 27 investigators hired by the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. The trade group says its investigators recovered nearly $5 million worth of cattle, horses and equipment, last year, in Texas and Oklahoma. At current beef prices, a single high-quality yearling cow weighing 500 pounds can sell for $450. That's good for producers, but it also attracts thieves. Stories roam the range about thieves who use helicopters to round up cattle in remote areas or fire hypodermic darts to anesthetize the animals. But most of the time, cattle are stolen by a few guys with a lock cutter. Some thieves bait the cattle, spreading feed to lure them into a pen or trailer. That's how rustlers took 58 head of livestock from a ranch near Houston, last January. Investigators say the crooks made at least six trips to load all the cattle. Bohannon, the cattle raisers' investigator, covers a 19-county region that is home to 136,000 head of cattle. He once staked out a ranch for 31 nights using night-vision goggles before catching the thief. Some stolen cattle end up at sale barns, while others are sold privately. Occasionally, thieves butcher a single cow on the spot and take the meat. Many of the thefts are inside jobs by current or former employees, he said. Branding is a common safeguard against theft, since investigators can track cattle at buying barns and auctions. Another defense is to limit access to pens, although those near roadways are vulnerable. Bohannon said he knows a rancher who carries a broom in his truck and sweeps the dirt at the entrances to his ranch, so he can spot fresh tire tracks. 1/7/08 Date: 1/3/08
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