Among the myriad of hurdles faced by ranchers on a daily basis, the risk of cattle theft seldom rises to top of mind. In the modern era of brand inspections and trip permits, the idea of a rustler absconding with someone’s herd has become something of anachronism. Despite this, theft can and does still occur. And thanks to modern shipping capabilities, such cases, if anything, are more difficult to solve than they were 100 years ago.
“It’s a problem you don’t really realize you have until it hits you directly.”
“It’s not something you think about,” said Fred Stewart, of Stewart’s 96 Ranch in Paradise Valley, NV. “It’s a problem you don’t really realize you have until it hits you directly.”
Certainly, he said, it wasn’t on his mind when he turned his cows out to calve in February. Nor was it his first thought when he came out of that same pasture more than 50 head short at the end of March. Instead, says Stewart, it took several weeks to arrive at the conclusion that his family’s cattle had been stolen.
“We had a pretty open winter this year, so we didn’t need to feed them,” he said. “I would take protein blocks to them once a week, but it’s such a brushy pasture, it isn’t unusual not to see them all. We didn’t know we were short until we started doing our spring work and branding.”
When the Stewarts realized how many cattle were missing, they began by rechecking their own pasture, doing so four times over the next few weeks, ultimately using eight riders to cover the 2,000-acre pasture. When this failed to turn up the missing cattle, Stewart began canvassing the neighbors, hoping to find strays among their herds. While a few more cattle did turn up, the Stewarts still found themselves near the end of April missing 50 pair.
“That’s when I called the brand inspector and let him know,” said Stewart. “So that he could notify the sale yards and get it out there to the law enforcement folks.”
At the same time, Stewart’s wife Kris turned to social media, posting a notice that spread rapidly throughout the western ranching community and beyond. This post did yield a significant response, though not in the way that the Stewarts had been hoping.
“Within a day, some other outfits close by called and said that they were missing cattle as well,” said Stewart. “They are actually out quite a few more than we are.”
In all, based on the social media response, the Stewarts estimate that 400 cattle are currently known to be missing from the surrounding area. However, according to the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA), the Stewarts are the only ranch that has so far filed a report.
The case is being handled by NDA Livestock Marshal Justin Ely, who declined to comment on the ongoing investigation. According to Doug Farris, NDA animal division administrator, cases of cattle theft in Nevada are comparatively rare.
“Cattle theft is not prevalent in Nevada,” Farris wrote via email. “Lost and missing reports are somewhat common based upon the nature of Nevada ranches.”
The majority of these reports, he indicated, end with the cattle being located either on the ranch property or on a neighboring property, something that the Stewarts say is not going to happen in this case.
“Be assured that we took this latest step only after scouring our own property, permits, and surrounding country,” wrote Kris Stewart in her April 22 social media post. “These cattle are gone. This is not a case of a bad count, bad fence, or a few cattle taking off early after the green. They are not in Paradise Valley, period.”
While the Stewarts have no idea who may have taken their cattle, it is possible, says Fred, to see how it could have been done.
“[The pasture] is right on a county road, and there’s a loading chute about a quarter of a mile away,” he said. “If someone wants to slip in there real quick and get a load, they can be gone before anyone’s the wiser.”
Though only a guess, Stewart speculated that the unmarked baby calves may be what the thieves were after. “It’s curious that someone knew my operation well enough to know that that’s where I take my calvy cows,” he said. “My gut feeling is that someone took them to strip the calves off, and maybe the cows are going to show up again.”
While this idea may seem overly hopeful, it is not without precedent. Following a rash of similar thefts in southeast Oregon that ended in 2012, there were reports of cattle turning up on their owner’s property without calves, sometimes the following fall, sometimes years later.
All of Stewart’s missing cattle are between 3 and 10 years of age and are branded with a 96 on the left hip. Additionally, they are earmarked with a swallow fork on the left and an underslope on the right, and all have neck wattles. Anyone with information related to the case is instructed to contact NDA Livestock Marshal Ely at 775-388-7726. — Jason Campbell, WLJ correspondent
