Cattle rustling boosted by recession, ease of crime

"Cattle rustling has made a major comeback," Ryan Owens and Gina Sunseri report for ABC News. "In Texas alone, more than 6,000 head of cattle were stolen last year -- that's triple the number from the year before. This year is set to break records in ranching states across the West. . . . The special rangers assigned to catch cattle rustlers say the crime has everything to do with the recession."

It also has something to do with how easy it is. Texas cowboy Bill Cawley told ABC, "The thief doesn't need a horse, he doesn't need dogs. He needs a paper sack. He can put a couple of rocks in the sack and shake it, and those cows will come straight into the pen." (Read more) Kate Linthicum of the Los Angeles Times also has a story. (Times photo by Tom Pennington)