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North Central Texas | The shooting and poisoning thing is crap. We are a fence out state but that doesn't mean cattle just roam free. The law can still use public safety and property damage to pick cattle up. The county keeps a list of complaints and if your cattle are habitual offenders, they have a ranch contracted to pick them up. A few of us in the county get called regularly to ID whats out. If I cant ID them or the person I figure out they belong to is on the bad list, they go on the trailer. The fine is about what they are worth. The county has 2 officers that handle animal welfare. Your stuff gets out all the time, you get investigated. They pull up and there is no grass to eat, no hay out, or no signs of feeding, that person is getting in trouble.
Folks that have been forever here get along fine. I'll fix my neighbors fence and my neighbors will stop and fix mine without ever calling. I even keep a supply box hidden by the road for the county and local police to use on anybody's fence if it is needed. Now the new folks who move to the country and try to run 60 pair on 40 acres, I don't have much sympathy for. Those are the ones that are always out and after a few warnings, we used to catch them and haul them to the barn, and sell them in the owners name. It's better now to let the contracted cowboys pick them up because the fine will usually put them out of business. | |
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