Rustler Profile

With the price of beef heading skyward, as onerous as it is, cattle rustling is bound to follow and recent news out of a number of states suggests that this horrible trend has begun to escalate. I guess criminals are criminals but it is so beyond my ability to comprehend stealing the livelihood from an honest, hard-working person such as a cattleman, I had to get a second opinion. I called executive director of the Idaho Cattle Association, Wyatt Prescott to delve into this subject. “As we see the value of these cattle keep rising, it becomes more and more lucrative. I think there are a couple of types. One type may be that person that doesn’t steal and lie but just goes out and harvests an animal and eats the meat and then there is the other type that is that really vindictive and probably steals large numbers and shuffles them around in different trucks and different inspections and crosses state lines. That type of rustling is not just harming that one producer, they are putting the entire herd health of the entire state at risk without the proper paperwork before they cross state lines. I guess something else is that those folks who are stealing a lot of cattle have to be somewhat experienced in our industry. The average person off the street corner in downtown Boise can’t go out and steal cattle, they don’t have the expertise. If you are having problems the best thing to do is look out your back door. Ya and keep your shotgun loaded. Yes.