Been shopping for meat lately? Then you know what sticker shock means. 

Beef prices have been steadily climbing and do not show any signs of slowing down. Of course, all prices have risen considerably, but being a red meat eater has definitely become more costly. Chicken and turkey are starting to look better and better. Thinking a little more seriously about vegetarianism, too. 

Market prices for cattle are at record highs. That's great for the producers - most of the time. When it is NOT good? When the cattle rustlers hit. 

See the problem is these days - most producers don't brand anymore. They sell close to home so it just isn't worth the aggravation. Ear tags can be lost or cut out. Very, very few will microchip and even fewer buyers even think about scanning. One black Angus looks exactly like the next black Angus, too - so proving ownership is nigh onto impossible. Ditto with most breeds of cattle - they just all look alike. 

Most of the time - the cattle thieves still get away with it. Why? The yards buying the cattle seldom if ever ask for proof of ownership. Essentially, they are complicient in the whole thing. They know and just don't care. 

So when B. J. Holloway's six cows were stolen in Spencer, OK, he knew his chances of recovery were 'slim and none - and slim was seen on the last bus leaving  town.' Those six cows representing his entire life's savings - $10,000. He's a hard working man. His daddy had given him two heifers when he was a teenager. He'd raised them, bred them, and sold off the resulting calves for years, slowly building up the herd. 

But a livestock investigator by the name of Jerry Flowers caught the case. Jerry Flowers’ official job title is chief special agent in charge of the law enforcement section for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. Jerry is a cowboy through and though. He and his team have an unofficial uniform of starched jeans, starched shirts, “wore-out boots, and a clean, white hat.” 

Flowers got a tip from a local auction house owner, a man named Bill Burkhart, who had had an anonymous phone call that a man by the name of C. Wright was stealing cattle in the area. Burkhart passed the information along. 

When Flowers checked the auction house sale records, the very same day that B. J. Holloway's cows were reported stolen, a C. Wright had brought in 6 cows to sell that matched the description. Now he waited for C. Wright to strike again. 

Two weeks went by, then the auction house called. C. Wright with a friend was back with three more cows. They didn't pay him telling him to come back the next day. When he rolled in, Flowers arrested him and the friend.

C. Wright described how easy it is to steal cattle:

       "(He) said all you have to do is walk into the pasture with some food in a bucket. You shake the bucket at          the cows, and they come over. Once you’ve got them in the pen — you back up your livestock trailer and          chase the cows inside.

       “Once they in, I shut my gate, put everything back like it was, and I’m gone,” C. Wright told the                        interviewer. He said stealing three cows took about 30 minutes, and it seemed like a perfect crime.

Holloway's cattle are still gone. He might get compensated out of the insurance that covers the auction house. That's still pending. 

NetPosse.com does work with livestock other than horses. If you want us to try to help you find your livestock, go to www.netposse.com and file a report. A volunteer coordinator will get back in touch with you ASAP. 

http://nepr.net/news/2014/11/20/how-to-catch-a-cattle-thief/

http://kfyo.com/special-rangers-seeking-stolen-cattle/

http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=1125088#.VI8miyvF-So