Cattle rustling continues on

By: Jacob Miedema

           

Buying and selling cattle is extremely important.  Because it not only provides income for all individuals involved.  Also, the end result is someone has a meal, such as a sirloin steak or hamburger.  But there can be some people that try to through a curve ball into this process to make everything more complicated, for instance, a person trying to sell cows that do not belong to them.    

            In an email message from Ray Erbele, part owner of Napoleon Livestock in Napoleon, ND says “Selling livestock that does not belong to you has gone on for many years”.  This issue is called theft; another common name for this crime is cattle rustling.  His email also stated that during previous years cattle operations had to come up with a system to try to reduce this crime.  The cattle industry started something called branding.  Which are symbols that are burnt into the cattle hide/skin the instrument that they use is called a branding iron.  According to Leroy Miedema, “Back in the old Western days they would keep the branding irons hot to brand by building two or three fires so they could have four or five branding irons at a time and could keep rotating them through the fire to keep them hot” In this technological world we live in today, they now have branding irons that are 110 volt and they plug it into an outlet, and a generator is brought out to a pasture. 

The men who come to sale barns to check these brands are called brand inspectors.  They are from the North Dakota Stockmen’s association, and have law enforcement abilities.  According to Erbele, “Sometime, through the grazing period, cattle end up in someone else's pasture.” according to Erbele.  “Unknowingly, perhaps to both parties, the animal is brought to the market.”  If an honest mistake like this occurs the brand inspector will not let the funds made from that individual cow be given to that particular person because he does not have a brand release (bill of sale).  The true owner would be contacted and be given the funds made.  If the brand inspector feels it was a theft case he would press charges.  Erbele feels the process is simple.  “These documents serve a purpose similar to a car title.  Simply, proof of ownership.”