Does anyone know anything about getting stolen property back from out of state? We have a case were stolen cattle have been removed from Texas to a feed lot in Kansas and we are trying to think of a way for our victims to get their animals returned. Our victims are even willing to pay for shipping/transportation.

Well, I think cattle are generally moved by truck nowadays, although I can recall having seen cattle railcars. A cattle drive reversing the historic route might be cost prohibitive.

Is the feed lot balking? A writ of attachment similar civil process would probably lie in Kansas. (Was it writ of replevin? I forget the common-law action to recover chattles) If the feed lot is not balking, what exactly is the issue? If the cows are in feed lot country, the local Kansas DA's office might be a good place to call.

This may call for the specialized legal knowledge of panhandle prosecutor Scott Brumley.

[This message was edited by JohnR on 09-28-09 at .]

If Brumley can't help, you might try contacting the Texas and Southwestern Cattlemen's Association. They are a very good resource when it comes to cattle theft, etc.

Janette A

It can be a tricky situation to get them back. Having done one case where cattle were stolen in our county and taken to Louisiana and sold, I can tell you there is no one agency (law enforcement or administrative) you can deal with. You might start with the Dept. of Agriculture of Kansas. Most of the time, there are quarantines (brucellosis) for moving cattle across state lines, unless they are sold for slaughter. Janette A.'s suggestion of contacting your TSCRA cattle ranger is a good one. They are licensed in TX and Oklahoma, and the ones in Oklahoma may have some Kansas contacts which would help you. Hopefully, the cattle are branded and earmarked which will go a long way in proving ownership, if that is an issue. See Ag. Code Ch. 144.
Moving the stolen cattle across state lines may be enough to get a federal prosecutor interested in your case, which could assist in the recovery of your cattle. We had 11 stolen head, and managed to recover one (well, actually two; the cow was pregnant and had a calf by the time we got her back). We only managed to get the one back due to her being a "downer" from the long haul from here to LA, so she was not sold when the others were. The other 10 cattle were sold, and put on barges and taken to salt-grass barrier islands off the coast of Louisiana to free graze. They would not be gathered until the beginning of hurricane season, so in essence, they were inaccessible. The one we got back, the sale barn in LA, which we were in contact with, just had us send a truck and trailer to get the cow (and calf). The cow owner's hired hand made the trip. We did get restitution for the stolen cows for the owner,and his hired hand's trip to LA, but he really wanted his property back (all hand raised F-1 cross-bred cows), but there was no way to get them. We also forfeited the gooseneck trailer of the defendant, who of all things was aspiring to go to vet school at the time. (His truck had too much owed on it to forfeit). Needless to say, he isn't a vet today. Got the bad guy and one cow, and learned some Napoleonic law. Email me if I can be of any help, or I can put you in touch with our local TSCRA ranger, Hal Dumas. roy.defriend@co.limestone.tx.us

Wow! Give me a complicated 6th amendment issue over a cattle case any day!

Signed,

City Boy (but native Texan)

Thanks all. We have the Cattlemen's Association involved and as I understand it the cattle were NOT branded or tagged. The victims are all sort of "gentlemen" cattle operations but we have about fifteen victims. A couple were IDed through an innoculation mark of some kind (I'm showing my ignorance) The feed lot in Kansas said if you can ID them then you can have them but they are out there with about 2500 head so good luck. Several have been slaughtered already...I'm afraid that some of our victims are going to be SOL...thanks

There could be a way to ID some of them, but it would not be easy. If the cattle were yearling heifers, and had been vaccinated for brucellosis, they would have a tag in their ear with a unique identifying #. Also, if they were tested for brucellosis at a sale barn, they would have another tag with a unique identifying #. This is only for heifers, not steers. And that is assuming the thief did not take the time to remove the tag from each animal's ear. If the cattle were steers, you may be SOL (no brucellosis test done). The TX Animal Health Commission would have access to the numbers. If the person had the heifers tested at one time, the numbers would be in sequence (say 15 or 20 done at once). Your local TSCRA cattle ranger could help with contacting the TX Animal Health Comm. about the brucellosis tag #s. Hope this helps.

I like JohnR's idea of the �reverse cattle drive�. If the victims could catch Capt. Woodrow Call returning to Texas to bury the body of his fellow TX Ranger, Capt. Augustus �Gus� McCrae, he might be willing to drive the cattle back from Kansas on his way down from Montana. Once you hit Kansas, just keep them in the I-35 South corridor. Instead of hiring Po Campo (the cook for the Hat Creek Cattle Company) you can just eat at Stuckey's. (wait, they closed those, didn't they?)

Ok, so I just got a brief on my desk about the theft of "7 heads [sic]" of cattle. Gus and Pea Eye are laughing somewhere.