How common is cow stealing? And how is it done?

Question

How common is cow stealing? And how is it done?

Answer 1

It's called cattle rustling and it is more common now with broken borders.

Answer 2

thats a good way to get your as- shot and they still hang cr in some states

Answer 3

It happened to a nice, semi-retired couple while they were in church.  They had weaned calves in a large yard and the thieves backed up, opened the gate and loaded up what they could, left the gate open so the rest got out.  The thieves must have thought they were less likely to be noticed during the day instead of at 3am.  The next day they were caught trying to sell them at a salebarn 150 miles away.  I think they got 6 months and then probation.

A friend of mine took her horse to a trainer for 30 days of riding, and the trainer called her up and said her horse died.  She didn't go over there to see the body, she just took his word that this happened.  Shortly after, some of her friends were at a horse sale and recognized her "dead" horse going through the ring.  Cops were called and she got her horse back.

I think it happens more than we hear about.

Answer 4

thanks for asking. but they brought Aunt earl back home on tuesday. Cheers!

Answer 5

Hello, Tom! The cow stealing is more common than you think! It is done in so many ways, that is no solid answer for that question. But one of the most used method is: they stunning the cow on the spot, cut it in pieces and take the best parts of it with them. That presumes they have a transportation for the meat. Or they can take it alive while is stunned using a small truck crane...

Answer 6

I live in a very rural part of Idaho.  Livestock is very often grazed on open range out here.  No fences, just miles and miles of open country.  

People will drive in with trailers, sometimes even the huge semi trailers, and round up the cattle on open range.  They will use horses, motorcycles, or ATV's to round up the cattle.  They round them up into a temporary corral, or sometimes use one of the perminat ones, which are built here and there in the remote areas.  They back the trailer up, load up the cattle, and away they go.

Sometimes they only take the unbranded calves, if they are close to weaning age.  Other times, they just take everything they can get onto the trailer.

Another problem around here are the Indian Reservation.  Every year around here you see rewards offered in the paper for cattle that have "disapeared" or been "stollen" from the Reservation.  Mostly these cattle are being killed, and butchered out one at a time.  There was a killing a few months ago, where they killed 5 prime beef cattle.  They only took some prime cuts of meat of each cattle, and left the rest to rot.

I raise meat goats.  There's a huge theft problem with the goats also.  It's much easier to steal a goat.  People can hop a fence, grab a goat, and stuff it in the trunk of a car.  In my state they finally made it a fellony to steal goats.

I had three men trying to steal mine a few days before Christmas a couple of years ago.  Fortunatly I keep Livestock Guardian Dogs for just such reasons.  They were totally unable to figure out how to get around the dogs, and jumped in their truck and drove away, when we came charging down the driveway with guns and flashlights.

Horse theft is also a problem.  Very often horse theft will happen in broad daylight, and sometimes from stables.  People will just drive up with a horse trailer, go to a couple of stalls, halter the horses, and walk out calm as you please.  Horse rustling bothers me more than any of the other thefts.  Horses are often companions, and deeply loved by their owners.  It's not just a financial loss, it's the loss of a dearly loved friend.

Unfortuantly the rustling of livestock has really skyrocketed lately.

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 7

It is called rustling, and it is still done in parts of the mid-west ,among others where ranchers raise cattle.

Answer 8

my neighbour thought we stole his cow... he's pretty crazy

Answer 9

Some of the nation's largest beef-producing states are fighting a resurgence in a centuries-old crime: cattle rustling.

Suspects routinely steal trailer loads from one county and deposit them in another — sometimes two or three counties away. A routine loss of 15 to 20 cows valued at up to $20,000 can be "devastating to some ranchers".  Read the entire article at:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006...