UNITED STATES CATTLE THEFT.
Authorities in Christian County continue to follow several leads regarding the theft of 53 head of cattle in Clever.
Sometime over the weekend of Feb. 7-8, thieves forced their way in through a perimeter gate in the 2700 block of Jasmine Road, near the intersection of State Highway K, said Christian County Sheriff Joey Kyle.
When owner Lonnie Littles returned from being away for the weekend, he found more than four dozen of his Brahma crossbreed cows weighing 1,100 to 1,250 pounds in various colors missing, Kyle said. The cattle are branded with the mark of the Poco Cala ranch --described as a P under a C, turned sideways, or as an S turned sideways with a straight line running beneath the arch of the right S-curve.
The cattle are worth an estimated $45,000 to $60,000, meaning any suspect could face felony charges, Kyle said.
Kyle said the theft was planned out and either involved up to four small trailers or one tractor-trailer. One gooseneck trailer could hold about a dozen, while the tractor-trailer could accommodate all 53.
"When I say it was a sophisticated operation, it means they had means," Kyle said. "They knew what they were doing. This wasn’t an opportunity for them; they undertook it with quite a bit of forethought."
The theft is one of the largest cattle-rustling jobs Missouri State Veterinarian Dr. Taylor Woods has heard of in the state.
Woods also thought the theft was of interest, considering the cattle were branded. Many times stolen cattle are not branded or have any identity that could give the thieves away, he added.
"In this case, it seems like since all markets have been notified about the branded cattle that have been stolen, some of those cattle are going to show up sometime if people just watch for them," Woods said.
Still, Kyle is concerned that the longer it takes to recover the livestock, the lower the chance the owner will get the cattle back.
While livestock markets are required to register with the Missouri Department of Agriculture and keep records of sales, it’s still possible the cattle could be sold and slaughtered quickly.
"If somebody is willing to turn a blind eye and give you 50 to 60 cents on the dollar -- of course when you steal cattle, there’s no overhead -- it’s profit," Kyle said.
"If you’ve got a questionable livestock auction, they could be hamburger already."
Woods said when cattle are taken to market, sellers don’t have to prove ownership before they unload them.
The only thing owners of stolen livestock can do is hope that if their property is branded, the word has spread around to markets to be on the lookout for it.
Kyle said he has alerted authorities nationwide, as well as livestock markets in nearby regions. That doesn’t mean the thieves couldn’t have taken them to other locations in Oklahoma or Arkansas.
The cows, which are good mother cows, could also be placed on a farm for a while before taken to market, Woods said.
Cattle theft is more common when the livestock market is up, Kyle said.
However, the market for many cattle and beef production is down compared to recent years, according to the USDA market reports.
"This may be promoted by the fact that people are starting to suffer from rough times," Kyle said.
"Again, it doesn’t matter if cattle is down 50 percent from what it was a year ago. If it’s free to you, then that’s a 50 percent markup ."
Cattle theft has been on the rise in Greene County in the past six months. However, Kyle has yet to see a similar theft in area counties that would point to a pattern.
