Cattle rustling in New England!

The more I read about this story (which is big in our news because it is close by), the more baffled I become.

Last week, 49 cattle were stolen from a local farm,, in Dartmouth, Mass, which is near the RI border. They have an estimated value of $50,000. These are animals raised for beef. This is a community farmer, with 2 farmers owning the animals stolen. They raise the cattle as a side hobby to make a bit of extra money; and they are sold to and used by Muslims for their Eid Al-Adha, which is October 26th this year. Officials have located 39 of the cattle at an auction in Pennsylvania. The farmers went down to arrange for the return of the animals. Poor things, they were 'roughed up' from the travel,(I didn't put this in the Dog House so I won't go into detail on this part) which helped to identify them. The farmers had other means of identifying their cattle. No word on the other 10 as yet.

I've never seen a cattle trailer, only horse trailers, which will haul 2 or 4 animals at a time. So if you have 4 cattle per trailer, you need 13 trailers -- with 13 trucks to haul them -- which means 13 drivers, right? So the cattle rustlers are a good sized gang of people.

And now, the farmers involved had to arrange for . . . . 13 trailers? with 13 trucks and drivers? Astounding!

I admit to not knowing a thing about farm life. The articles have no mention of the farmers having insurance to cover the transport cost.

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Originally Posted by Freedom

The more I read about this story (which is big in our news because it is close by), the more baffled I become.

Last week, 49 cattle were stolen from a local farm,, in Dartmouth, Mass, which is near the RI border. They have an estimated value of $50,000. These are animals raised for beef. This is a community farmer, with 2 farmers owning the animals stolen. They raise the cattle as a side hobby to make a bit of extra money; and they are sold to and used by Muslims for their Eid Al-Adha, which is October 26th this year. Officials have located 39 of the cattle at an auction in Pennsylvania. The farmers went down to arrange for the return of the animals. Poor things, they were 'roughed up' from the travel,(I didn't put this in the Dog House so I won't go into detail on this part) which helped to identify them. The farmers had other means of identifying their cattle. No word on the other 10 as yet.

I've never seen a cattle trailer, only horse trailers, which will haul 2 or 4 animals at a time. So if you have 4 cattle per trailer, you need 13 trailers -- with 13 trucks to haul them -- which means 13 drivers, right? So the cattle rustlers are a good sized gang of people.

And now, the farmers involved had to arrange for . . . . 13 trailers? with 13 trucks and drivers? Astounding!

I admit to not knowing a thing about farm life. The articles have no mention of the farmers having insurance to cover the transport cost.

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The cattle Rustlers could of loaded the cattle into a bull rack. A bull rack is a very large iron based trailer with dull wheels, the rack is made of very strong aluminum enforced with steel there are plenty of ventilation holes along the bull rack. It also has a roof on it with a lower & upper deck in it & can hold up to 37 head weighing in at 1,200 lbs. Don't know the weights on these cattle so maybe they could of loaded all of them into the bull rack if they were smaller lets say 800 lbs., a piece? There is also a portable chute you can pull out from under the back of the bull rack to load the cattle. The cattle would walk up the chute into the trailer. A large semi tractor would be attached to the bull rack to pull it.

Farmers generally have insurance to cover their livestock. They would probably hire a bull rack driver to transport their cattle back to their farm. Hope this is helpful.

I live near farms and see cows going by all the time. They pack them in. I don't know the exact number but it is many. They aren't cared for like horses! My guess is that you can get at least 15 or 20 in a trailer at a time. :confused:

Interesting info, and so sad. Thanks.

I can't say that I've ever seen cattle transported around here, so I don't know how it's done. Delaware is "chicken country", and it makes me sad to see the way these creatures are treated on the way to be slaughtered. There are hundreds of crates stacked on what I would describe as flatbeds, with as many chickens as possible crammed into each crate. I often wonder how many make it thru alive and how many are DOA???
Of course we see a lot of horse trailers too, and horses are treated very good. Most of them are race horses or work horses that are privately owned tho.

If you ever watch Jane Valez-Mitchell on HLN weeknights, you would see some horrendous videos of the treatment of animals farmed for consumption. She is very much an animal rights activist and usually has a piece at the end of her show - supporting legislation for the humane treatment, etc, of all animals everywhere.

Never heard of cattle rustling on that scale around here! It is surprising, too, with the falling price of beef in the Mid-West because of the drought, with farmers sending cattle to the slaughterhouse when they no longer can afford the feed for them. I am glad the folks were caught, and hopefully the others will be found. There's a very small profit margin for many farmers, and we would not want to see thieves destroying a small farmer's livelihood for the sake of a quick buck!

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Originally Posted by sasvermont

I live near farms and see cows going by all the time. They pack them in. I don't know the exact number but it is many. They aren't cared for like horses! My guess is that you can get at least 15 or 20 in a trailer at a time. :confused:

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Your average goose neck heavy duty trailer which is pulled by a 3/4 ton pick up with duals will hold up to 10 head beef fat cattle (girls called heifers, boys called steers) lets say up to 1200 pounds each.

Cows are female cattle which have been breed & have had calves. They can be beef or dairy breeds.

A farmer that raises animals for consumption takes good care of them because they are his/her livelihood. A person can get injured or killed by farm animals if they are not careful around them.

Yes, the animals can also be injured. That is where you call the veterinary to come & put them to sleep if nothing can be done for them or have someone shot them if you plan to consume the meat. We had a steer break a leg years ago & the veterinary could not do a thing for him so we planned to consume the meat instead of wasting it.

Farming is not for the faint of heart & the products are there to feed a world of hungry people.

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Originally Posted by Karen

Never heard of cattle rustling on that scale around here! It is surprising, too, with the falling price of beef in the Mid-West because of the drought, with farmers sending cattle to the slaughterhouse when they no longer can afford the feed for them. I am glad the folks were caught, and hopefully the others will be found. There's a very small profit margin for many farmers, and we would not want to see thieves destroying a small farmer's livelihood for the sake of a quick buck!

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Karen, that's just it, they have NOT caught the thieves! They have some leads -- the auction house is not cooperating. Other folks have said that this Amish auction, if you show up with animals, they pay cash and take the animals to sell at a profit themselves. Yes, they have made it clear, this is an Amish auction, which is why they were working / holding the auction, on Labor Day. The Amish don't recognize the holiday.

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Originally Posted by Karen

Never heard of cattle rustling on that scale around here! It is surprising, too, with the falling price of beef in the Mid-West because of the drought, with farmers sending cattle to the slaughterhouse when they no longer can afford the feed for them. I am glad the folks were caught, and hopefully the others will be found. There's a very small profit margin for many farmers, and we would not want to see thieves destroying a small farmer's livelihood for the sake of a quick buck!

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The beef prices are not falling they are going up. The average price for a 1200 pound steer or heifer is $1.26 per pound equaling $1,512.00 finished.

The cow herds still exist & have been sold off to other buyers in other parts of the U.S.A or foreign countries. Don't know of a shortage as yet. When fall comes the number of weaned calves may not be a valuable as last Falls due to the lack of corn. There are other grains that can be fed to beef cattle to fatten them but it would probably take longer time to get the gains on them.

All this can cause a rise in prices for the consumer & some brainstorming for the farmer as what would be the best decision sell them as calves get what you can for them & let someone else finish them out or finish them out yourself. This can make or break for a farmer.

Most farmers had federal crop insurance which means they will be paid for their crop failure & the money will be used to buy fuel, seed, & fertilizer to plant again next year.

I think it would have been easier just to rob the farmhouse. I live in a "farm town", and whenever mentioned to someone from another surrounding town people ask me if I live on a horse farm. About the only thing they have here is Corn and you guessed it - horse farms. :p Being a former member of the FFA, I probably should know a bit more about cattle rustling but really don't have a problem with that 'round here.

That does seem like a lot for New England though. My question is - how does anyone have the nerve to steal cattle?? I'd be paranoid that someone was watching somewhere! No matter how big the ranch is. I am sure this is extremely common out west, but I guess getting caught'd depend on the acreage of the farm. It's not exactly easy to hide either!

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Originally Posted by Bonny

Your average goose neck heavy duty trailer which is pulled by a 3/4 ton pick up with duals will hold up to 10 head beef fat cattle (girls called heifers, boys called steers) lets say up to 1200 pounds

A farmer that raises animals for consumption takes good care of them because they are his/her livelihood.

Farming is not for the faint of heart & the products are there to feed a world of hungry people.

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Not to quibble with you, but neither of these statments are overly accurate. Abuse of farm animals is at the top of many humane lobbying groups agenda, and we could feed many, many more people with the grain we feed our livestock, then with the flesh of the livestock.

As a side note, the Amish are big into puppy mills - especially in Pennsylvania.

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Originally Posted by Grace

As a side note, the Amish are big into puppy mills - especially in Pennsylvania.

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Which caused me to lose respect for them in a big way. I know it is not every Amish family, but still, I don't care who you are, puppy mills are intolerable.

I'm with you there, Karen. Absolutely intolerable and unforgivable.

Grace and Karen- absolutely! I should not have used the term 'farm animals', as that is too narrow. Puppy millers, circus exploiters, carnival people, the list goes on. People that "use" animals for commercial uses do not treat animals well, not by a long shot.

And how much of the abuse caught on video has been staged by PETA et al. to prove the abuse is happening?

Sorry, I'm surrounded by farms, and the animals seem pretty well cared for.

Put down the broad brush, you're spattering yourself with.....

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Originally Posted by Lady's Human

And how much of the abuse caught on video has been staged by PETA et al. to prove the abuse is happening?

Sorry, I'm surrounded by farms, and the animals seem pretty well cared for.

Put down the broad brush, you're spattering yourself with.....

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The videos I was referring to, were filmed at some of the large meat slaughter houses and packing plants - in the west or mid-west I believe it was. But many of the big commercial farms have deplorable conditions also - animals so cramped and crowded together that they can't even turn around or lay down is only one of the inhumane incidents that I have seen. One video showed a steer that had been shot in the head at the slaughter house but didn't die, so one of the workers was standing on it's snout to try to smother it to death. Another bullet would have been much more humane, but bullets cost money, and why waste money when smothering it didn't cost a cent? :rolleyes: Of course this is just one example, and there have been many others involving pigs, chickens, etc., and staged or not staged, it is so unnecessary! And lest we forget the practice of shark finning in other countries............
JMO, but I don't feel the treatment many of these farm raised for consumption animals receive is at all necessary, and in no way acceptable.


ETA: And the majority of these facilities and farms that are guilty of this abuse, are the ones that provide meat and poultry to the fast food chains and chain restaurants, and also school systems, so the demand for constant supplies of meat/poultry is enormous. Of course they won't pamper their charges, as they are in it for the big profits they make, and not for being even remotely concerned for the welfare of their money makers.

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Originally Posted by Cataholic

Not to quibble with you, but neither of these statments are overly accurate. Abuse of farm animals is at the top of many humane lobbying groups agenda, and we could feed many, many more people with the grain we feed our livestock, then with the flesh of the livestock.

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They are accurate & I live in a farming community on a farm & we raise cattle. Why would we abuse our animals? Enjoy your bowl of cereal people can not live on grain alone they need protein in their diet.

The lobbying groups should spend more time & be more concerned about the conditions of humans.

I went on a field trip back in high school and we went on a trip to a LOCAL dairy farm. The cows were treated as royally as a cow can be treated, and you'd be able to tell otherwise. It was so clean to, I mean sure it still smelled but it was immaculate for a cow farm. The cows even had names.

I think we all know abuse happens, but I think that is more on the factory farms then anything else. I don't think anyone is denying that fact but not all farm animals are treated terribly. Wouldn't make much sense to me, especially for a LOCAL smaller farmer to abuse his livelihood like that. There are bad apples, just like there are with pet owners.

I live in Vermont - and have lived near two farms for at least 15 years. One farmer treats his animals like pets, but doesn't have the Vet come out unless its an emergency. He doesn't REALLY take care of them like you and I would take care of a dog or a cat. They are way over-fed and seldom have the hooves trimmed.

The other farm, on the other side of me is in business. They have clean, clean environments for their cattle and they have a Vet there often. They also sell their milk to a BST free conglomerate. Actually, I had several cows in my yard this morning on my way to work. I had to herd them back to the farm with my car horn! It was pretty funny.

So, each farmer decides what he/she is willing to spend on their animals. Who is to say what is correct, other than those times when neglect is evident.

Farmers around here are finding it difficult to dispose of sick cattle so they often take them into the woods, shoot them and the bury them with a backhoe. I don't know what they do in other farms, but here it is expensive to dispose of sick or dying cows.

Anywho, I imagine each state has its own laws and requirements when it comes to selling a product to the public vs. having cattle/animals as pets.

Ag laws are set by the federal government as a baseline. The states can modify, but not avoid federal standards. (they can make stricter standards, but cannot go below federal baselines set by USDA)

Goodness this thread really got off topic!!

The 2 farmers own the 49 head of cattle between them. That is all they have. They said they count their stock daily and were stunned that morning one went and . . . only the 2 goats were out in the pasture!

There was concern about the number of animals or how many people must have been involved in the escapade thus, we got off on the carriers they may have used. Treatment of cattle came up as a result of the carriers. We aren't that far off. We are still being kind to one another, I think!:D

Nothing surprised me today, when it comes to stealing and damaging others' property. I think the economy isn't helping, but my guess is that much of the theft involves someone needing to buy drugs or guns. Opppsss. Not so much guns, but yes, drugs. I could be wrong. Where there is crime there is usually a gun involved, yes? And the end result is the sale of the stolen goods. To buy what? D R U G S ! not baby formula.

How's about the farmers not allowing cows to dress in that fabric that crinkles.....

Voila'!

No more cattle rustling!

*giggle* Thanks for that, Richard! :D

Its called crinoline or taffeta, Richard.

Yup - I can just picture those cows in their crinoline tutus.........:D:D:D

I had to look up how to spell crinoline! It is pronounced, /k/rinl'in...but I knew it wasn't spelled like that. Been a long time since I wore either.

See - cows really do wear tutus.............


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I'm simply aghast that you would post such blatant abuse here, Pom.

Think of the poor cow's dignity?

As an aside, would that be a tutu or a fourfour?

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Originally Posted by Lady's Human

I'm simply aghast that you would post such blatant abuse here, Pom.

Think of the poor cow's dignity?

As an aside, would that be a tutu or a fourfour?

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I thought that cow looked quite contented. She was even sporting a wreath of flowers on her head. Now there's at least one cow who isn't abused, so how good is that? :confused::rolleyes::D

Fourfour??? - don't know about that, but it sure did take a lot of crinoline to make it!