Cattle rustling remains problem despite Mo. task force

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Cattle rustling seems to have declined slightly but is still a problem in Missouri two years after Gov. Matt Blunt created a task force to deal with the issue, Blunt told a meeting of ranchers Tuesday.

Cattle experts say a trailer-full of stolen calves can fetch $12,000. A single 500-pound calf can sell for $600.

Blunt did not provide numbers for total thefts, but he said indications were that rustling has decreased. He said the hardest hit areas have been in southwest and south-central Missouri.

Missouri is the nation's second-leading beef cattle state, behind Texas.

Blunt said the task force of state and local law enforcement has led to 26 arrests and the recovery of 126 cattle since it was created in February 2006.

The task force coordinates efforts between the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Missouri State Water Patrol and sheriff's departments in Cooper, Miller, Polk, Greene, Christian and Pulaski counties. It also includes a state crime database, the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC).

Task force investigator Steve Crain said the total number of thefts is down a little, but the problem continues. He also told ranchers that law enforcement needs their help to combat rustling.

Ranchers should vary their routine for feeding and checking on cattle so that would-be thieves can't easily estimate when a pasture will be unattended, Crain said.

He urged farmers to report suspicious activity to local law enforcement.

"We cannot do it, folks, without you. You have to be the eyes and the ears," he said.

Crain also warned ranchers against taking the law into their own hands if they catch rustlers at work.

"You don't want to let things get out of hand. ... From the day you were all little, you've all been taught not to take another life. You better think long and hard before you shove that thing (shotgun) in somebody's face."

In an audience of about two dozen ranchers, eight men raised their hands when the governor asked who had had cattle stolen.

Richard Jones, of Everton, said thieves took 17 of his cattle last year and 19 in January.

"I've worked with the task force, and they're good people and all. Sometimes I feel like they have so much workload that maybe they don't have as much to work on this as they maybe need," Jones told Blunt.

Jeff Windett, executive vice president of the Missouri Cattlemen's Association, said no one has firm numbers on cattle thefts in the state but that the problem is big.

"It's something of critical concern for us. It's a huge economic impact for those producers that have cattle stolen," Windett said.

The task force has been valuable because it speeds up investigations by sharing information among law enforcement agencies, Windett said.