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The guys selling meat door-to-door probably will say they bought it from a guy in a white truck at the flea market, and don't remember his name. I don't know what the cops can do with them as long as they have the proper permits and don't have outstanding warrants.

- Jim

Here's another one: In Fredericksburg five people were arrested and charged with the theft of 6,000 lambs.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/5-jai ... 160122.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The mind boggles at that number. This had to be some kind of ongoing theft. Six thousand live lambs would fill hundreds of trailers.

- Jim

The legislature has been cranking up the penalties for some property crimes. The penalty for theft is in Penal Code 31.03:

(4) a state jail felony if:
(A) the value of the property stolen is $1,500 or more but less than $20,000, or the property is less than 10 head of sheep, swine, or goats or any part thereof under the value of $20,000;
(5) a felony of the third degree if the value of the property stolen is $20,000 or more but less than $100,000, or the property is:
(A) cattle, horses, or exotic livestock or exotic fowl as defined by Section 142.001, Agriculture Code, stolen during a single transaction and having an aggregate value of less than $100,000; ...

It gets more serious for higher values of aggregate theft.

The exotic fowl clause has some interesting consequences. It makes stealing a single egg of a guinea hen, for example, a felony.

- Jim

Every once in a while I run into someone selling meat out of a truck, which is obviously dodgy. One time a bum approached me at a gas station with a steak that still had the Kroger label on it. But I did not realize how widespread this trend is.

Police in Austin broke up a ring of professional shoplifters who were stealing meat from grocery stores and selling it to restaurants, literally at the back door. Police then ran a sting, getting the restaurants to buy meat represented as stolen until they could level felony charges.

Aside from being a crime, this practice results in unrefrigerated and unsanitary meat getting into the food chain.

In various incidents entire truckloads of meat and live cattle have been stolen. Texas has had over 700 cattle rustling incidents so far this year.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/201 ... ants_n.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

BTW, theft of livestock or animal products is always a felony in Texas. Even theft of a wool scarf could be prosecuted as a felony, though usually it is not.

- Jim