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Cattle Rustling On The Rise

By KSEE News
July 13, 2011 Updated Jul 13, 2011 at 6:21 PM PDT

The Merced Sheriff's Department says agriculture crimes are on the rise. The Department is warning ranchers in the area to secure their cattle. Alpha Gipe is a third generation rancher. Everyday he tends to hundreds of cows on the property who may not be there tomorrow.
Gipe says, "Up in the corner they could chose them in the corral back of a trailer. Be gone before anybody knew it." In the last ten years Gipe says dozens of his cattle have been stolen. It cost his family nearly $30,000. Gipe says, "It's devastating. Not only the value an animal is a couple thousand dollars. Waste of a good breeding animal. They would butcher for meat." More than 1,700 head of cattle were reported missing in California last year. 1,300 were reported missing in 2009.
Tom MacKenzie with the Merced Sheriff's Department says it all comes down to money. Beef prices are soaring to record highs. MacKenzie says, "The reason they want it is for the meat. So they'll butcher as much as they can right there, and take it back to where they're going to go. Clean it up. It's less weight, less identification marks."
Gipe says every cow on his ranch has an identification tag, he hope that will be enough to protect them. Gipe says, "This is just a cow, but it's more than a cow. It's our livelihood. Generations of breeding cattle to get the perfect cow. Somebody steal them is disheartening."