Stolen On The Range

The Old West may be gone, but cattle rustlers still flourish

When spring roundup comes, few ranchers expect to find every head of cattle at once. Some are bound to stray; others might have fallen to illness or predators. But when Bart and Lilly O'Toole gathered in their stock from winter grazing in Nevada's Reese River Valley, they were dismayed to find 20 cows missing from a herd of 200. When none turned up on neighbors' lands or in Nevada stockyards, the O'Tooles knew that 10% of their herd had been rustled. Says Lilly O'Toole, 43: "I'm sure they're slaughtered and made into hamburger by now."

Cattle rustlers are as much a...

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