Cattle rustling goes up as the economy goes down

Some farmers are finding that the economic crisis is having another affect on their livelihood: the number of cattle reported missing in 2008 was up significantly from 2007, indicating that cattle rustling is on the rise. "It’s a big spike," said Jim Arnott, sheriff in Greene County, Missouri, where cattle rustlers have struck 10 times since October. "Usually we’ll go a year or two with no thefts, but it’s really picked up. In these economic times people are taking desperate measures, whether it’s stealing, or whether they’re trying to come up with money through insurance fraud."

Missouri has been hit particularly hard, writes Malcolm Gay in the New York Times, becaise it has many smaller livestock operations that don't always have someone watching the cattle. Also, the state has no "brand law," requiring owners to register brands with the state. But other areas are also feeling the effect. Nearly 200 cows were stolen from an auction market in South Dakota last month, and Wyoming officials say that from 2007 to 2008, the number of cows reported stolen rose from 90 to 225.

The job of recovering the stolen animals is made even more difficult by time constraints. "Down here, a sheriff lives or dies by whether he keeps the cattle thefts down," said Sheriff Joey Kyle of Christian County, Mo. "But there are no serial numbers on hamburgers." (Read more)