Miniature cattle play in the snow after being stuck inside
These miniature cattle had fun in the snow after being allowed outside for the first time in two days because of the weather.
USA TODAY, Storyful
More than five dozen calves priced between $1,800 and $2,000 a piece were stolen from a farm in Ohio, according to the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office.
At some point between 10 p.m. Saturday, May 2, and 6 a.m. Sunday, May 3, local time, 64 calves were stolen from a farm in the village of Coldwater, roughly two hours north of Cincinnati.
In a Facebook post on May 3, Derek Joseph Gaerke, a co-owner of Gaerke Brother Farms, said the calves are 13 weeks old, had been freshly weaned, and most of their tails are docked. He added that they were stolen from a turkey barn that had been converted into a calf starter barn.
According to Gaerke, while his company owns the cattle, they were in the care of Selhorst Farms, which was in the process of “starting” the calves, or transitioning them from a liquid to solid feed diet.
Here are more details on the cattle theft.
‘Efficient, high-producing’ dairy cows
Mercer County Sheriff Doug Timmerman told local outlet The Daily Standard that the calves, specifically called Holstein calves, are worth between $1,800 and $2,000 each.
They each weigh around 250 pounds and can be identified by their distinctive black and white or red and white markings.
Holsteins have been bred for the past 2,000 years, and are regarded as “an efficient, high-producing “ dairy cow, according to Oklahoma State University’s Department of Animal and Food Sciences.
The department cited a testing production program conducted in the U.S. in 1987, which found that a Holstein’s average yearly output includes 17,408 pounds of milk, 632 pounds of butterfat and 550 pounds of protein.
Suspects likely familiar with cattle, officials say
The Daily Standard reported that not all of the calves were taken during the operation, a detail Timmerman believes is revealing.
“Common sense is probably telling us that there was probably a trailer-load, a full trailer-load taken, which is why they (perpetrators) probably stopped,” Timmerman said. “We suspect it has to be somebody that’s very familiar with handling cattle and have the equipment and means to be able to transport that, and not only that, but to care for them afterwards and to have an outlet for them once they leave there.”
Timmerman told the Daily Standard that the crime would’ve required “some pretty serious equipment.”
“You wouldn’t be able to just pull up with a van and load these cattle up. You need a truck trailer, even potentially a semi, to do that,” Timmerman said. “Obviously, somebody has thought this out a little bit ahead of time. And you have to have an avenue to get rid of the cattle and/or to finish raising them yourself. So there’s been some thought into this.”
An investigation is currently underway. Timmerman added that his office doesn’t have any suspects at the moment, but that his team is currently reviewing surveillance footage captured nearby.
Reporter Drew Pittock can be reached at [email protected].
