To err is human.
A Provost-area producer recently learned this the hard way, when he discovered cattle he reported stolen had actually been in the herd the whole time.
“It was an honest mistake,” said Cpl. Dave Heaslip, RCMP livestock investigator for northern Alberta. “He’s a good cattleman. He’s got all his cattle branded, that’s why we went (all out) on this thing here.”
A few weeks ago, the Alberta RCMP Livestock Investigation Unit reported 59 mixed-breed cows worth about $80,000 were stolen from a property near Czar.
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“If that many branded cattle are missing, it’s very realistic that we’re going to find them,” said Heaslip.
Alerts were sent out to the media and to inspected livestock markets, and the owner put up a $25,000 reward. But the problem was a bookkeeping error, which occurred when a newly bought group of steers was accurately recorded but also mistakenly listed in the heifer records as well.
“His total count would have been out,” said Heaslip. “He checked his records three times. So I asked him to check them a fourth time and he did an actual count.
“The silver lining… is that a lot of people have started branding their cattle. They’re stepping up to the plate when they’re worth this much money.”
Thieves are less likely to touch cattle that are branded, said Heaslip.
Producers generally do a good, hard count on cattle when they put them out on pasture, but don’t do another count until they bring their cattle back home, he noted. It’s not uncommon for one or two animals to go missing, but the three- or four-month window between counts makes it very hard to find missing cattle, especially if they are not branded and the producer hadn’t recorded their CCIA tag numbers.
“If you’re missing some, you’ve got the CCIA tag numbers and that’s good insurance,” said Heaslip. “Brand your cattle, ensure that you’ve got the CCIA tag numbers recorded.”
