Cattle theft an ongoing problem for Sask. producers
Shlok Talati | CBC News | Posted: October 20, 2023 10:00 AM | Last Updated: October 20, 2023
Crime watch network reports losses this week of 31 cows, 43 calves and a bull
As cattle producers bring their animals home from pasture for the winter, they're reporting losses to the police.
This week, Livestock Services Saskatchewan's crime watch advisory network issued six advisories about cattle losses. The total number of animals reported lost were 31 cows, 43 calves, and a two-year-old Angus bull, from six different farms in the province.
Cpl. Owen Third, the RCMP's livestock investigator in Saskatchewan — a position created just this year — said the influx of reports could be attributed to the time of the year
"Not everyone has their own pasture, so they'll rent pastures or lease grass somewhere else," Third said. "Now is the time of year producers are looking to bring their cows home and when they're hauling out of these pastures. That's when they notice when they might be short a few cows, a few calves."
Third said police expect more reports to come in over the coming weeks as more cattle are collected from pastures.
High beef prices could be a factor in the losses, Third said. According to Statistics Canada, the prices of fresh or frozen beef and pork have gone up by 5.3 per cent nationally and by 6.3 per cent in Saskatchewan over last year.
"The price of beef is quite high," Third said. "We're getting some record prices right now. It's good for producers right now, but also for anyone who wants to steal livestock, or if they want to be a little on the shady side."
For 25 Charolais cows and five calves missing from the Cowessess First Nations pasture, police said witness reports suggested a white Dodge Ram and a blue-coloured all-terrain vehicle were involved in moving cattle away from the pasture last weekend.
Regarding 30 missing calves from the Cando pasture south of North Battleford, police said some calves may have died from predation, but cattle theft could not be ruled out.
Cattle theft is not new to the Prairies, said Garner Deobald, president of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association.
"I wouldn't say it's an increasing problem, but, again, it's an ongoing problem," he said.
Deobald said the economic hit for producers can vary depending on the portion of their cattle that's stolen. He said electronic ear tags or branding are easier to identify at the point of sale than some other tags.
"Dangle tags are easily cut out and replaced with other tags and so there's a lot of investigative work that has to happen, I guess, to identify these cattle," he said.
Third said the going fine in Alberta is $500 per animal stolen and Saskatchewan is taking its cue from that, in terms of fines and charges.
"Due to this position being fairly new — dealing with livestock-related occurrences —- we've got a lot of work to educate our prosecutors and our court system in how a lot of these cattle files work, so it's something that's fairly new and we're just working with the courts to get things figured out," he said.
The RCMP and Livestock Services of Saskatchewan have asked producers to register their livestock on an online platform called Everbridge to help them better track the cattle.