Cattle rustling, my friends, in not a thing of the past. Since cattle rustling still exists, albeit more hi-tech (sometimes, anyway). One article I read said that in the past 10 years, more than 9 million bucks worth of livestock has been stolen in the state of California. While some heists are inside jobs, they also noted that some people have taken to stealing calves in order to make money for a meth fix. How crazy is that!? Obviously, cattle rustling is costly problem. Enter: the Brand Inspector. Brand inspectors have probably been around as long as we have had domesticated cattle, in one way or another. The modern Brand Inspector is part of the local law enforcement. Click here to see the job requirements. The Brand Inspector inspects cattle, horses, mules and donkeys any time there is a sale, trade or when the animal is to be transported more than 75 miles. That's the rules, anyway. The Inspector makes detailed records of each animal, recording all markings, features unique to that particular animal, and the brand itself. All of this information goes on record and can be used to compare future sales, or investigate rustling. Lest you decide to run out and become a brand inspector, think again! It is not an easy job. The Colorado Department of Agriculture is looking for brand inspectors, but warns that only 4 to 5 percent of applicants pass the initial test to qualify as a candidate. This job is much more complicated that memorizing spots on a cow. What I have mentioned here is just a simple overview. Geez. I feel like I am giving a speech or something. Never you mind. I had entirely forgotten about the Brand Inspector till we were home in July and I saw him driving around. I figured it just might need to be addressed in my Franch Tales. Hope you feel enlightened!
And if you are in for some seriously disgusting, gross, horrifying reading material, check this out. Apparently tattoos, weird peircings and grommets in your ears are not enough to brand you a freak, pun intended. I just discovered while doing some quasi-research for this post that some tattoo places now offer human branding. Eeeeeew! I think I'll pass.
3 comments:
I seriously think I am going to throw-up after looking at those human branding pictures. What are these people thinking!
Eeewwwwwwwwwwww.......eewwwwwww.... That branding thing is nasty, nasty, nasty....I just ask why would you do that to yourself?
Strangely enough, our brother in law has a brand on his bicep. He's a cop, so I thought maybe it was a scar from a knife fight or something ... but nope, he actually paid for that.
Post a Comment