In a turn of events that harkens back to 19th century tales of dusty towns and quick draw artists, or perhaps the 21st century HBO series, Deadwood, my metrosexual sensibilities were shocked when I learned that cattle rustling is still alive and kicking. Two Mondays ago, on September 3, 2012, media outlets reported that most of the 49 cows that were stolen just two days earlier from a Dartmouth Farm were found, a few hundred miles away at an auction site in Pennsylvania. Dartmouth Police Sergeant Allen Shaw confirmed that 39 of the cattle were found in New Holland, Pennsylvania. The find came with the help of the cows’ owner, Ahmed Mahmoud, acting on a tip.
At the time of the discovery, police were still investigating but had only a few details about the theft and the location of the other cows. The animals were valued at approximately $50,000 and the thieves made away with them from the communal farm on Old Fall River Road late Saturday night, September 1, 2012.
After only three more days, reports began to surface that the remaining cows were successfully reclaimed. The final remnants of the stolen livestock had been stashed much closer to home, only about forty miles away in Medway, Massachusetts. At the time, suspects had been identified but no arrests or charges had been made.
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