Canada: Bounty on cattle thieves being boosted

A rope and a good sturdy branch are no longer an option, or an effective deterrent for the lowlife curs stealing cows in Alberta. Yes, cattle rustling still occurs here in the not-so-wild west, with more than 6,000 head stolen annually by thieves prowling the prairies for heifers to heist and sell. With beef prices soaring, the number of animals vanishing is on the rise — and with the noose outlawed, cold hard cash is seen as the best weapon against modern-day rustlers. “If you do the math, I’ve lost pretty close to half a million bucks, when you figure cows that would have calves and so on and so forth,” said Aaron Brower, a rancher and victim of repeated rustlings. “Since 2004, when we first started noticing it, there’s been 25 calves here, 30 bred cows there — I’m at 164 losses so far, with 44 head this year alone.” Stories like Brower’s are the reason the Western Stock Growers’ Association announced Sunday the reward for nabbing Alberta cattle thieves will immediately increase by up to 5,000%. The old reward of $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of cattle crooks wasn’t cutting it — and so the association is establishing the new reward, which will be doled out through the RCMP and Crime Stoppers...more