Cattle theft.

[504RP]

I was talking with my vet and he told me about 60 head of cattle that was bought and paid for with a check that wasn’t good. The person or persons who bought these cattle with a bad check were caught when trying to sell them at a sale barn. And then the recovered cattle was held at my vets holding pen until the owners came to get them.

Over the past years I have heard about cattle being stolen occasionally. Was talking to a friend after I was told about the 60 head bought with a bad check and my friend told me about having 8 head stolen in the 80’s that was never recovered. He found where the theft took place and that the cattle thef’s had used a couple of horses and dogs and cattle panels to heard, catch and load the 8 head that was never recovered. And that happened when the price of cattle was cheap. Be another person that caught a man that had killed a cow and was in the process of gutting it. He knew the man when he caught him. Had went to church with the man. The man told him he killed it to feed his family. The owner of the cow had the man that killed his cow help him load it into the back of his truck and told him he was taking it to a slaughter house and was going to pay to have it processed and that he was going to let the man that killed his cow have it. And he told the man that if he got in the position that he felt he had to steel a cow to feed his family ever again to come talk to him and he would help him out instead of the man having to steal from someone.

With the prices of cattle at historical highs. Has anyone heard of any cattle being stolen ? I could see the possibility of people steeling cattle now than ever before.

 

[Travlr]

I was talking with my vet and he told me about 60 head of cattle that was bought and paid for with a check that wasn’t good. The person or persons who bought these cattle with a bad check were caught when trying to sell them at a sale barn. And then the recovered cattle was held at my vets holding pen until the owners came to get them.

Over the past years I have heard about cattle being stolen occasionally. Was talking to a friend after I was told about the 60 head bought with a bad check and my friend told me about having 8 head stolen in the 80’s that was never recovered. He found where the theft took place and that the cattle thef’s had used a couple of horses and dogs and cattle panels to heard, catch and load the 8 head that was never recovered. And that happened when the price of cattle was cheap. Be another person that caught a man that had killed a cow and was in the process of gutting it. He knew the man when he caught him. Had went to church with the man. The man told him he killed it to feed his family. The owner of the cow had the man that killed his cow help him load it into the back of his truck and told him he was taking it to a slaughter house and was going to pay to have it processed and that he was going to let the man that killed his cow have it. And he told the man that if he got in the position that he felt he had to steel a cow to feed his family ever again to come talk to him and he would help him out instead of the man having to steal from someone.

With the prices of cattle at historical highs. Has anyone heard of any cattle being stolen ? I could see the possibility of people steeling cattle now than ever before.

Gotta wonder about all the deer hunters up in the hills with cattle still running around. As much as I'm up in the mountains during deer season I've never been stopped by any kind of game officer.

 

[CowboyRam]

Back in the 60's dad almost caught someone who shot a cow ranch he was working at. All they took was the hind quarter. About five years ago I had bought a couple cows in Torrington and was going home with them; I got stopped by sheriff near Douglas. They were looking for some cows that had been stolen. I had brand papers and a bill of sale, and they let me go on my way. I had a buddy who had lost about 15 head a few years ago; I don't think he ever recovered them.

 

[kenny thomas]

I was talking with my vet and he told me about 60 head of cattle that was bought and paid for with a check that wasn’t good. The person or persons who bought these cattle with a bad check were caught when trying to sell them at a sale barn. And then the recovered cattle was held at my vets holding pen until the owners came to get them.

Over the past years I have heard about cattle being stolen occasionally. Was talking to a friend after I was told about the 60 head bought with a bad check and my friend told me about having 8 head stolen in the 80’s that was never recovered. He found where the theft took place and that the cattle thef’s had used a couple of horses and dogs and cattle panels to heard, catch and load the 8 head that was never recovered. And that happened when the price of cattle was cheap. Be another person that caught a man that had killed a cow and was in the process of gutting it. He knew the man when he caught him. Had went to church with the man. The man told him he killed it to feed his family. The owner of the cow had the man that killed his cow help him load it into the back of his truck and told him he was taking it to a slaughter house and was going to pay to have it processed and that he was going to let the man that killed his cow have it. And he told the man that if he got in the position that he felt he had to steel a cow to feed his family ever again to come talk to him and he would help him out instead of the man having to steal from someone.

With the prices of cattle at historical highs. Has anyone heard of any cattle being stolen ? I could see the possibility of people steeling cattle now than ever before.

I have heard of some stolen recently near Rogersville TN. Some also got stole and turned in to an insurance company several months ago but also got sold. I know of some bad checks also. Its getting hard for a stockyard to cover weekly expenses and I occasionally hear of bad checks from a couple of them also.

 

[farmerjan]

Sheriff's office advertising on the Harrisonburg radio this week of 7 head that were stolen... Not alot of details, wanted anyone to call the sheriff's dept...
I expect that there have been others not reported or already caught.
One good reason to bangs vacc heifers... Tattoo's in the ears... tags can get cut out and all that... we also have them notch the ear when they are done... easy to see at a distance...
We are seriously looking at freeze branding.....
Heard of one cattle dealer that has had some financial problems and no longer welcome at a couple stockyards up here....

 

[GoWyo]

I don't know how folks back east don't get a lot more cattle stolen with no brands. We get them stolen around Wyoming and if they get on I-80 headed east they can be in a non-brand inspection area in about 3 hours.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I don't know how folks back east don't get a lot more cattle stolen with no brands. We get them stolen around Wyoming and if they get on I-80 headed east they can be in a non-brand inspection area in about 3 hours.

Smaller country, smaller pastures. Around here everybody knows everybody, if I get a new pair of boots everybody in town knows within 5 minutes of wearing them. If someone saw a vehicle enter a pasture of mine somebody would call me within 5 minutes asking me who it is and why they are there.

Heck when I borrowed a 2nd truck a trailer a few years back the neighbors and sheriff were there checking it out practically before I had my seat belt off.

 

[504RP]

Sheriff's office advertising on the Harrisonburg radio this week of 7 head that were stolen... Not alot of details, wanted anyone to call the sheriff's dept...
I expect that there have been others not reported or already caught.
One good reason to bangs vacc heifers... Tattoo's in the ears... tags can get cut out and all that... we also have them notch the ear when they are done... easy to see at a distance...
We are seriously looking at freeze branding.....
Heard of one cattle dealer that has had some financial problems and no longer welcome at a couple stockyards up here....

I always hot branded my cows and bulls.

 

[504RP]

Sheriff's office advertising on the Harrisonburg radio this week of 7 head that were stolen... Not alot of details, wanted anyone to call the sheriff's dept...
I expect that there have been others not reported or already caught.
One good reason to bangs vacc heifers... Tattoo's in the ears... tags can get cut out and all that... we also have them notch the ear when they are done... easy to see at a distance...
We are seriously looking at freeze branding.....
Heard of one cattle dealer that has had some financial problems and no longer welcome at a couple stockyards up here....

Are you near or in high populated areas or out in the country. Years ago the core of engineers would lease some land that was about a half mile wide x 15 miles long. That had a levy running along the river for flood control. Sometimes cattle was shot and loaded onto utility trailers is what was determined by sheriff’s deputies or the farmers who would find where the cow or calf had been winched on to the trailer from looking where it had been shot leaving some blood signs. That only happened a couple of times. But they never caught the person or persons that done it.

 

[504RP]

I don't know how folks back east don't get a lot more cattle stolen with no brands. We get them stolen around Wyoming and if they get on I-80 headed east they can be in a non-brand inspection area in about 3 hours.

You have your brand registered don’t you ?

 

[504RP]

As high as cattle are right now I would register my brand and hot band every thing I owned from 3 to 4 weight calves up. If they are reported stolen here the sale barns can look up your brand and the auctioneer can help keep an eye out for them if someone try’s to run them through their sale barn and possibly see your brand when it’s in the ring to be auctioned. I never branded my calves that was going to sell but they weren’t selling double almost triple what they are now.

 

[GoWyo]

You have your brand registered don’t you ?

Yes. My recollection is you cannot use a brand if it is not registered with the Livestock Board. Have to renew them every 10 years.

 

[jltrent]

IMO it would be hard running a cattle sale barn. You get a bounced check and can't get your money from a buyer, and the cattle are gone, you are left holding worthless paper. It is hard to get blood out of a turnip. We had a sale barn to close a few years ago because of this or at least one of the reasons. I envy those people for the risk. A sale barn right now on a busy sale may sale millions in cattle so they better know their customers and screen wisely.

Any new customers IMO would not be out of the way to request a credit report and financial statement. Banks do this loaning way less money than accepting a check contract from customers.

 

[Dave]

I have heard of nothing recently. Lots of old stories of various methods and numbers. The thieves don't get caught very often. Everyone brands here. The saying is trust your neighbors, but brand your cows. Almost every calf over 2 months old has a brand. The state has brand inspectors at all the sales. If you sell privately you have to have the brand inspector come out and inspect the brands before the cattle get on the truck. I am real close to the state line. If you have pasture on the other side of the line into Idaho there is inspection involved.
Of course there was the cow I bought 2 weeks ago that got shipped off to Canada.......... I still haven't been reimbursed for her. I would say something about Canadian cow thieves but we know that no Canadian would ever steal a cow.......

 

[Travlr]

I have heard of nothing recently. Lots of old stories of various methods and numbers. The thieves don't get caught very often. Everyone brands here. The saying is trust your neighbors, but brand your cows. Almost every calf over 2 months old has a brand. The state has brand inspectors at all the sales. If you sell privately you have to have the brand inspector come out and inspect the brands before the cattle get on the truck. I am real close to the state line. If you have pasture on the other side of the line into Idaho there is inspection involved.
Of course there was the cow I bought 2 weeks ago that got shipped off to Canada.......... I still haven't been reimbursed for her. I would say something about Canadian cow thieves but we know that no Canadian would ever steal a cow.......

Well, at least they'd do it politely.

 

[crossbreed]

Here is a little bit of justice for a true cattle thief. This is the guy who wrote over a million dollars of hot checks and basically shut down the sale barn in overbrook Oklahoma. Congrats to North Carolina for getting this done

 

[TCRanch]

There have been two thefts in our county recently. I know one of the ranchers and he & his wife are the nicest people. They go out of their way to help people and are actively involved in the community. And then someone steals some of their cattle.

This time of year, a lot of ranches still have their cattle out to pasture and don't check them every day. Prices are up and some people are just scum.

The Cowley County Sheriff’s Office is investigating two reports of cattle theft from pastureland in the northeast part of the county. The first report was made on September 12, 2025, and a second on September 16, 2025. In total, about 30 head of cattle were reported stolen.

We encourage residents to remain alert and report any suspicious activity involving livestock transport or unfamiliar vehicles near pastures.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Cowley County Sheriff’s Office at (620) 221-5444 or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at (620) 221-7777.
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[mwj]

The sad part is that a lot of these cattle end up in the hands of other producers and not sold at the salebarn. Most thief's have a market before they are stolen.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

If I caught someone stealing my cattle I would seriously want to hurt them.

 

[MACVSOG]

If I caught someone stealing my cattle I would seriously want to hurt them.

the following is not advice, do not misconstrue as such. depending on your state, i believe cattle would be considered both tangible and movable. the his is for information only.


Texas law allows a person to use a reasonable amount of force to protect their property. Under Texas Penal Code Section 9.41, a person in lawful possession of tangible, movable property, like a car, is justified in using force when they reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to prevent another person’s trespass or unlawful interference with that property. The key limitations are that the force must be what an ordinary and prudent person would consider necessary in the same situation and it must be immediately required. The law permits force to the degree it is believed to be necessary, but this does not automatically extend to the use of deadly force, which is governed by a much stricter set of rules.