Rustling picks cattleman's pockets
By James D. Ritchie

Cut fences and stolden cattle make for raw nerves and suspicion in southwest Missouri

Several mornings these past few months, many beef producers woke up to find they had smaller herds than they owned the evening before—especially in Barry, Christian and Stone counties in southwest Missouri.

“We had 81 cattle thefts reported in southwest Missouri in 2005,” said Sgt. Dan Nash, with the Missouri Highway Patrol’s Criminal Investigative Unit at Springfield. “The thefts ranged from six head to more than 20 head per incident.”

Bob Herndon lost 25 head of 500- to 600-pound steers and heifers. Herndon, who runs cattle in Christian County near Marionville, Mo., thought he was doing most things right to deter rustling.

“My corral is well back in the pasture, a quarter-mile away from any public road,” he said. “We keep gates locked and check cattle regularly.”

But thieves sneaked onto Herndon’s property across a neighbor’s pasture.

“They cut four fences and drove across nearly a mile of pasture to get to my cattle,” he said. “We believe it happened between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., on a clear, moon-bright night, so the rustlers didn’t need a lot of lights.”

To add insult to $18,000 worth of injury, the thieves penned and loaded the cattle from Herndon’s corral.

“They even sorted the calves,” Herndon said. “They took only black and black-baldies—nothing with an unusual color pattern. Before they left, the rustlers put the corral gates back the way they were and turned the rest of the cattle back into the pasture.

“These people were organized and sophisticated,” he went on. “They had to know how to get across my neighbor’s place and into my pastures. They rounded up my cattle without making much noise; probably with dogs. And they went back out the same way they came in. They’re pretty slick.”

Although he checked area livestock markets on sale days following the theft, Herndon never found his cattle.

“Rustling is a fairly low-risk, potentially high-reward enterprise,” said Sgt. Loren Pope, who serves the Christian County Sheriff’s Department. “The sad truth is, there’s a low probability of recovering animals once they are stolen, and the more time that elapses after the theft, the less likelihood that they’ll ever be recovered. We usually have a very short time window to work with.

“We’re investigating a group of people now,” he added.  “They are organized, and they do their homework. We believe there’s a sizeable group of them who specialize in different tasks—some of them do surveillance, another group does the actual stealing, and a third group acts as ‘mules’ to get rid of the cattle.”

Because southwestern Missouri is located in a “four corners” area, within a short drive of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas, are cattle stolen there sold in other states?

Sgt. Pope shook his head. “I believe most cattle stolen in this area generally are disposed of in this area,” he said. “We have a lot of auctions and stockyards in the region. Selling cattle in another state would risk attracting too much attention.”

“The No. 1 deterrent to livestock theft is branding,” said Michael Robertson, Christian County sheriff. “A lot of producers don’t like to brand cattle, but a registered brand is the only legal identification of animals. I don’t own any cattle, but if I did, they’d be wearing a legal brand.”

Sgt. Pope and Sgt. Nash offer these additional tips to help deter rustlers from swiping your cattle:

Keep track of your cattle daily. Count numbers and try to get out among your cattle at varying times from day to day. Assume rustlers are watching.

Vary feeding schedules. If you can avoid it, don’t feed cattle at the same time every day. And don’t feed calves in bunks beside a public road. Cattle that are regularly fed are usually gentler and easier to steal.

Build corrals, pens and loading chutes some distance from the road if possible. Lock access gates, corral gates and loading facilities—although, as Bob Herndon learned, a locked gate doesn’t necessarily stop thieves.

Pay attention to strange vehicles in the area, especially trucks and trailers. Keep a pen and note pad handy and jot down license numbers and vehicle descriptions. Thieves who steal cattle aren’t above stealing license plates—or even vehicles—but noting strange vehicles gives lawmen a place to start looking.

Keep good records. Take photographs of your cattle.

“Get together with your neighbors and set up a neighborhood watch,” urged Sgt. Pope. “Reviving the tradition of neighbors watching out for each other’s property can be useful. Let neighbors know when you’ll be away from home for a period of time.”

After the theft of his cattle, Bob Herndon and his neighbors organized a watch, taking turns patrolling the area at night.

In northwest Barry County, cattlemen and other property owners are organizing a more formal protection association. Prompted by Dale and Leslie Horner, who own the Madry Store on Highway 39 (and also own cattle), the group looked into forming a limited liability corporation to limit the liability of individuals in the

association. The Madry Store has been robbed often enough to force Dale Horner to start spending nights in a trailer adjacent to the business.

“We aren’t looking to form some kind of vigilante committee,” Horner pointed out.

“We want to put more eyes and ears in the country, and we’ll work with law officers. We want to encourage more people to be in the courtroom during the trials of suspects arrested in this area, and to be informed enough to be a good witness,” he said.

It’s a good idea for the victim and his neighbors to appear at all the court cases involving rustling, said Sgt. Pope. An informed community is a more vigilant community.

Frustrated at what seems to be an out-of-control rash of thievery, some southwest Missouri residents blame law enforcement for not handling things better. Horner doesn’t.

“Barry County has more than 1,600 miles of county roads, not counting paved roads and state highways,” he said. “If it were stretched out straight, it would reach to California. Four or five deputies cannot patrol that much road all the time.”

“We’re proactive and do what we can,” said Sgt. Pope. “We often stop trucks and trailers, just to check them out. And we work closely with other law enforcement agencies as a matter of course. My jurisdiction may stop at the county line, but nothing stops me from alerting lawmen in other jurisdictions.”

How about neighborhood patrols going armed?

“All law-abiding citizens have the right to own firearms, and many cattlemen carry guns in their pickups,” said Sgt. Pope.

“Several states, such as Missouri, issue conceal-and-carry permits. We don’t want citizens confronting rustlers—these people are already outside the law and can be dangerous.

“If you get into a shoot-out, even with somebody in the act of stealing your property, the outcome is usually not good,” he said.

Update

In February, Gov. Matt Blunt announced a state and local partnership effort to combat cattle theft across southwest and central Missouri.

Chief among efforts is the implementation of the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) that Missourians can report suspicious activity around cattle farms or share information possibly related to cattle thefts by phoning 1-866-362-MIAC (6422).

Blunt announced that he would seek legislative action this session that would stiffen the penalty for livestock theft from a Class D to a Class C felony.

Blunt said the Missouri Department of Agriculture will conduct seminars and provide assistance to the Highway Patrol to brief them on questions to ask when they come into contact with individuals who claim to be cattle producers, farmers or ranchers.

Both departments as well as state and local law enforcement are encouraging local groups to help raise awareness of the crimes to report suspicious activity by paying special attention to trucks with trailers that are usually not in the area, unusual vehicles or traffic patterns and unusual nighttime cattle loading or shipping.

As requested by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Department of Agriculture, the Missouri Cattleman’s Association and the Missouri Livestock Marketing Association are recommending that livestock auction markets across the state ask that voluntary producer photo ID’s be filed to help ensure that honest businesspeople are buying, selling and transporting cattle.

Put your brand on

With the outbreak of cattle stealing in southwest Missouri, there’s heightened interest in branding livestock. After he lost 25 head to rustlers, Bob Herndon recorded his brand—a stylized “CLC” (for the first initials of his grandsons’ names).

Even so, fewer than 5,000 brands are registered in Missouri, a state with some 65,000 cattle operations.

“Branding is the only legal [livestock] identification method that will stand up in court,” said Eldon Cole, University of Missouri extension livestock specialist. “However, the brand must be legally recorded with the Missouri Department of Agriculture.”

Under the law, individuals can register new brands or existing brands that have not been used for 5 years. Brands must be of two or more characters (some combination of letters, numerals and symbols) and be 3 inches or larger in diameter. A brand can be registered for use on the shoulder, rib or hip on either side of the animal (the right or left side by standing behind the animal).

It’s illegal to deface or alter a livestock brand, or to brand someone else’s animals. It’s also illegal to use any brand that has not been registered by the Department of Agriculture director. In 1992, the Missouri Legislature approved freeze (cryo) branding and gave it the same status as hot-iron branding.

Once a brand is recorded, it becomes the personal property of the owner. Brands can be transferred to other owners. Slaughter facilities and livestock markets receiving branded animals are required to record the number of animals, date of receipt, name and address of the seller and a facsimile of the brand for at least two years.

Fees charged in connection with registering or transferring brands are:

Initial registration fee - $35

Renewal fee (every 5 years) - $20

Transfer fee - $10

Brand book - $15 

“We publish an updated brand book every five years,” said Sheri Berendzen of the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Animal Health Division. “We send copies of the brand book to all county recorders of deeds and all county sheriffs,” she said.

For more information or to request an application for brand registration, contact:

Division of Animal Health

Missouri Department of Agriculture

P. O. Box 620

Jefferson City, MO 65102

Telephone: (573) 751-5608

E-mail: Sheri.Berendzen@mda.mo.gov

 

Or you can download information and an application by logging onto www.mda.mo.gov/animals/lsbranding.