Saskatchewan couple charged with trafficking stolen cattle

A five-month-long investigation has resulted in charges of theft and trafficking stolen cattle against two ranchers from the rural municipality of Prairie Rose.

The Lanigan RCMP said Thursday a 59-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman — both from Caprina Farms and Ranching — were charged after an investigation by officers from the Lanigan detachment, the Alberta RCMP Livestock Investigations Section and members of the Livestock Services of Saskatchewan.

A search of the ranch near Jansen in June led to what the Mounties called in a media release “a substantial recovery of Alberta and Saskatchewan cattle.” The RCMP alleges the couple trafficked a large number of animals.

“The scale of this case is pretty rare, but I think small-scale it’s more prevalent than we know,” said Ryder Lee, CEO of Saskatchewan Cattleman’s Association.”We hope the punishment is something that is a deterrent for people considering this in the future.”

Cattle rustling, also known in some places as cattle raiding is a crime that involves someone stealing and transporting cattle. Cattle theft is described as rustling, while someone who engages in the crime is called a rustler.

“Looking at how many counts there are, probably a bunch of places hit,” Lee added. “Cattle go missing every summer, there are several files that are unsolved.”

Jansen is about 150 kilometres east of Saskatoon.

The woman faces five counts of theft of cattle, two counts of trafficking stolen cattle, and one count each of fraudulently marking cattle and causing animals to be in distress.

The man faces charges of theft of cattle, trafficking stolen cattle, fraudulently marking cattle and causing animals to be in distress.

The accused are scheduled to make their first court appearances in Humboldt on Aug. 24.

“Branding your cattle is the best way to ensure ownership,” Lee said.

“If people suspect something is wrong, they should contact the livestock services of Saskatchewan.”

“We recognize the challenges that come with managing farming operations, it’s a big job. Having farmers and ranchers able to specifically identify that something was amiss with their herd or that animals were missing and then take time out of their day to report it, was key to this investigation,” Staff Sgt. Greg Abbott of the RCMP Central District Management Team said in a release.

“In this instance, it specifically resulted in linkages being made to other inter-provincial files and ultimately resulted in a much larger investigation and charges laid.”