South Rupununi ranchers are calling on law enforcers to ensure that justice is done as they await charges against cattle rustlers who were recently caught red-handed.
According to a member of the Karaudarnau Village Council, who did not want to be named, the most recent incident occurred two Wednesdays ago.
He said the council received a report from a resident rancher who informed that she found the wiring of her fence clipped and seven of the cows that were in the paddock missing. The councillor said that the rancher narrated that she and her husband decided to follow the cows’ hoof prints and they soon caught up with the small herd, which was being driven by someone from the nearby community of Achiwib. The councillor said when the rustler saw the owners, he abandoned the cows, which were taken back to the ranch.
However, later that same night, the cows once again disappeared and the village council was alerted.
Stabroek News was told that the following morning, the Village Council received reports that persons were driving a herd of cattle into a nearby ranch at Achiwib. The councillor explained that owners of the said ranch were previously charged with rustling cattle. As a result, the police stationed in Aishalton were alerted.
With assistance from the council, the police, who had initially stated that they had no vehicle to travel to the area, eventually managed to get to the ranch. They found 27 cows in the paddock belonging to residents of Sawariwau and three were found in the corral ready for slaughtering. The councillor noted that none of the cows found had branding of the ranch. The cows belonging to the rancher from Karaudarnau were not found.
According to the councillor, when the rustlers saw the police, one escaped via motorcycle and another by horseback. The owner of the ranch and another person were arrested.
The councillor added that since then they have not heard anything from the police regarding the matter despite regularly calling for updates.
“We are not going to let this matter go… if the police [are] not doing anything then we will have to write to the higher authorities about their incompetency. That incident was clearly an evidence of rustling. People round up other people cows sometimes that are between their cattle but there was no cow between that herd that belong to the owner of the ranch,” the councillor said.
He added that this issue is an ongoing one and it was not the first time that the suspects were caught red-handed rustling cows. He recalled that sometime ago the same persons were caught and were eventually charged with rustling cattle. Although a number of ranchers from Karaudarnau were involved in the matter, he said they were never called to provide evidence.
“We don’t know if that case is before court or if it was dismissed, nothing, but we know that the latest incident was not no mistake. That is rustling. All we are asking is for something to be done and we will follow it this time but it seems that the police are not doing job and we have to wonder why…,” he said, before adding that cattle is valuable and ranching is one of the main source of income for many families living in the South Rupununi.
