Vermont State Police are investigating the theft of about 20 heifers from the Chaput Family Farm in North Troy between February and earlier this month. Farm owner Reg Chaput said he suspected theft in February, but didn’t report it because he wasn’t sure if discrepancies in a cattle count represented theft or an inventory error. The farm has 200 animals in the barn where the theft occurred and about 1,600 cattle overall, Chaput said.
More heifers, which are young bovines that have not yet borne calves, went missing between April 17 and May 11, when farm workers conducted another inventory and noted a shortage. The thefts must have taken place during daylight hours because a nearby home has dogs that would have barked if people intruded in the night, Chaput said
“It’s not like a petty theft in a store. There has to be a farmer that’s willing to take them. It’s a little bit coordinated,” Chaput said.
Each heifer was worth $1,400. The loss was insured. “The downside is the insurance company counted this as two claims,” Chaput said. “We really hate making insurance claims.”
He said he can’t lock the door against intruders because that would make it hard to evacuate the cows during a fire. “We put in motion detectors and we’ll probably put in surveillance cameras,” he said.
Sale prices for cows have gone up because cattle imports from Canada are banned due to mad cow disease fears, making thefts more tempting, Chaput theorized.
Topics Carriers Agribusiness
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