Skiatook Man Trying To Find Thieves He Says Tried To Steal Cattle

A Skiatook man is trying to help his friend find the people who tried to steal cattle from his property.

They say the thieves didn't get away with any cattle but did cause a lot of damage.

Kyle Blakeman helps his friend take care of his cattle every day near Skiatook. 

"It's a lot of hard work that people don't see behind the scenes," Blakeman said. 

He says they went out to feed Thursday morning and noticed the fence had been cut, cattle panels had been taken down, and tire tracks were in the mud.

He says it looks like the truck the thieves were using got stuck in the pond, and they had to be pulled out.

"To have somebody come in and just in 10, 15, 20 minutes, steal whether they were trying to steal, 1, 2 or 10, you know they are 1,500, 2,000 dollars a pieces cows and calves, you could lose $10,000 or $20,000 dollars in a hurry," he said.

Bart Perrier is a special ranger with the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and is working on this case.

He says it's unfortunate this happened since the rancher did everything he was supposed to do, like locking your gates.

"As people always say, they will cut your lock, that is true, but that gives us physical evidence supporting someone has been there and done something," he said.

He says cattle thefts in Oklahoma follow the market: when cattle is high, like right now, you'll see more thefts.

"I always compare it to the oil field copper thefts; no one steals copper when copper is low, but when copper is high, you can't keep cable on the ground," he said.

The good news this time is the rancher didn't lose any cattle.

Blakeman says it's maddening someone would try to steal someone's livelihood.

"It just takes the wind out of your sails, very badly because you don't know who done it, and it makes you mad because you don't know," he said.

Perrier says it's also a good idea to make sure you are counting your cattle often.

If you have any information, you can reach out to the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.