08/28/06 Reporting stolen cattle

American Rancher August 28, 2006 Cattle rustling may conjure up images of the Old West - but cattle thefts are still happening right now - and at a surprisingly high rate. That`s why the Livestock Marketing Association`s Livestock Board of Trade has a free service that reports stolen cattle to the rest of the industry. And LMA Director of Information John McBride says the free service gets plenty of use. McBride: "You have to remember at prices livestock are bringing these days they are valuable creatures. And for example, last year we reported 97 separate cases of stolen livestock and that is one case about every 3 ½ days. So it indeed is still a problem." McBride says you don't have to be an LMA member to use the reporting system and here is how it works. McBride: "When we get a report we put it up on our website and that is www.lmaweb.com and then we fax and email that report to our members all over the country and to the same people that give us the reports. We are glad to offer to the industry and it is one that unfortunately gets a lot of use." The LMA system is also used to report stolen cattle trailers, even bad checks used to pay for livestock. To use the system just call the Livestock Marketing Association at 800-821-2048. I'm Bob Hoff.