Cattle Rustling – A comeback crime

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Land & Livestock Interntional, Inc.
HOUSTON (FOX 26) – If the theory of survival of the fittest proves true, it makes sense to expect modern crimes emerging from modern times- from cyber identity theft schemes to ATM ‘smash and grabs’ and armored car robberies, thieves have *had* to get creative to say in the game.But over the few years, Texas authorities have seen a significant increase in thieves recycling a historically glamorized crime, straight from the days of ‘the old west.’Only in today’s world, investigators are now tracing some of the cattle rustling profits made from reselling the stolen loot to drug buys.This is how Special Ranger John Bradshaw described it when it first started trending again a few years ago.

“You get 100 percent of what the cow’s worth at the time at the market place,” he said in a 2009 interview. “It’s not like stealing a TV and getting 20 bucks.”

That concept pretty much still rings true today. The difference: the price of cattle is higher now which reflects on most of our grocery bills, and also makes stealing far more attractive for a thief. In keeping with the modernization trend surrounding the crime, we used social media to get a better grasp.

According to a spokesperson for the Texas Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, cattle rustling reports are up 40 percent this year alone. That’s bad for ranchers, some of whom were forced to reduce their herds by up to 35 percent or completely sell off due to the drought of 2011.

“Guys have sold at 400, 500, 600 dollars a cow,” one rancher said at an auction last year. “To go in and buy that cow and take her home today, you are looking at double or triple the cost to buy the same animal back.”

Or, in the case of a criminal, someone could just take what isn’t theirs. The TSCRA spokesperson tweeted several pictures of people accused, and in some cases convicted, of doing just that. A conviction even resulted in a ’99 years in prison” sentence for one of them, which is better than the punishment of choice in the old days.

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About Land & Livestock Interntional, Inc.

Land and Livestock International, Inc. is a leading agribusiness management firm providing a complete line of services to the range livestock industry. We believe that private property is the foundation of America. Private property and free markets go hand in hand—without property there is no freedom. We also believe that free markets, not government intervention, hold the key to natural resource conservation and environmental preservation. No government bureaucrat can (or will) understand and treat the land with as much respect as its owner. The bureaucrat simply does not have the same motives as does the owner of a capital interest in the property. Our specialty is the working livestock ranch simply because there are so many very good reasons for owning such a property. We provide educational, management and consulting services with a focus on ecologically and financially sustainable land management that will enhance natural processes (water and mineral cycles, energy flow and community dynamics) while enhancing profits and steadily building wealth.
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