Sask. Cattle Farmer Finds 10 Cattle That Were Missing Since 2009
By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
It’s a story that you would likely watch in a case out of CSI, a rancher from Saskatchewan going through great lengths to find his 10 missing heifer cattle and discovering that a DNA test was just the trick.
Glenn Strube is a cattle breeder near Shellbrook, Saskatchewan and in Oct. 2009 he noticed that 10 of his heifers were missing from the herd.
His hired hand suspected that a neighbour who lived nearby may have stolen them, but there was nothing that Strube could prove that he was the culprit.
Going with his gut instinct, Strube made a few phone calls and discovered that his neighbour was marketing cattle at Saskatoon livestock sales. Strube then gave his detailed cattle records to the sale barns brand inspector, but it was a long shot because his animals weren’t branded and their tags likely had been removed.
Luckily enough for Strube, the brand inspector found some cattle in a feedlot near Duck Lake that matched the description that Strube had given him. After seeing the cattle, Strube came up with the idea to take a DNA sample from the cattle and compared them with related cattle and they matched.
In the end, Strube never did get his cattle back as they were about to calve. Strube’s neighbour was found guilty of theft and has been ordered to pay $7,200. Strube is also in the midst of filing a civil lawsuit for the increase in cattle prices and the lost income of offspring calves. The accused is attempting to appeal the case.