A farmer in Alberta recently lost cows, calves, and bulls of the same breed that were worth $175,000
Cattle rustlers are stealing whole herds of live animals and getting away with it most of the time, just like in the Old West.
Last fall, John Meston lost 85 cattle. Two 900-kilogram bulls, four cows, and 79 calves were among them. He said that the cattle were worth $175,000 in total.
Meston said from his farm near Westlock, Alberta, “A hit like this is pretty bad.”
“We’ve worked our whole lives in this industry, which we love, and for this to happen, it really stinks.
Meston is dealing with rustlers, or people who steal cattle, for the second time. He lost 21 cattle nine years ago. In 2014, 100 calves belonging to a neighbor were stolen. The RCMP says that neither case was ever solved.
“In the middle of the night, they’re gone,” said Butch Harris, a brand inspector who has worked for 41 years to keep farmers, ranches, and auction houses safe from theft and fraud.
Inspectors like Harris make sure that the brand mark on the cows is the same as the one on the farm or ranch that owns them. He says that about 45% of the cattle in Alberta are marked.
He said that rustling has been around for a long time.
“So long as there are cattle, it’ll damn sure happen, and probably always will to some degree,” Harris said.
“There are far too many of them. Without a doubt, it goes on.”
Increasing beef prices are a factor
Harris has noticed that the number of cattle thefts in Alberta has been going up over the past few years, especially the smaller thefts where people take “one or two heads” to put in the freezer.
On the black market, there are also slaughterhouses and butcher shops that sell stolen beef. Harris said that as beef prices go up, it makes more money.
“With the way the economy is going and the conditions of COVID and everything else, I’m sure a few have shown up that way. “Every year, it seems like more and more of our reports go missing,” Harris said.
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The RCMP’s livestock investigations unit in Alberta is made up of a two-person team, which includes Cpl. Lindsey Anderson. They are in charge of looking into the about 50 cattle thefts that happen in the province every year.
“It happens more often than we think it does,” she told CBC News. “Producers should always let the company know when something goes missing.”
She said that the Meston case was unusual because 85 cattle were taken.
“You have to know what you’re doing if you want to steal a lot of cattle. You need to be able to go out and round them up, and you also need to be able to move them.”
In B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan, brand inspectors will check auction markets, but Harris says there is nothing like this in Manitoba or Ontario.
He also said that this makes it easier to put cattle on trailers and sell them in these provinces.
Few cases are solved, and people rarely go to jail
Anderson says that her team finds animals “two or three times a year.”
In a recent case, people who were found guilty were given fines and probation.
Andre and Monika Ribi, ranchers from the Rural Municipality of Prairie Rose, Sask., were charged with multiple counts of theft of cattle, trafficking stolen cattle, fraudulently marking cattle, and causing animals to be in distress in 2020.
In this case, 29 cows from five different farms were stolen.
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They pleaded guilty to lesser charges in January 2022. Andre Ribi, who used to be a city councilman in Prairie Rose, was sentenced to six months in jail and 18 months of probation. Monika Ribi had to pay a fine of $5,000 plus an extra $2,000 for the victim. They also had to give money back to cow owners who couldn’t get their cows back.
John Meston doesn’t think he will be able to get his cattle back. But he hopes that his case will lead to better law enforcement and more thorough investigations.
“There won’t be a cattle industry if we don’t take care of this and stop it. But why would someone work their whole life to build up a cattle ranch only to have it taken away?”