Chasing Cattle Rustlers

All Things Considered:

When cattle go missing, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is on the case.
You can find Special Ranger Wayne Goodman keeping an eye on local sale barns in Texas. With his badge, a cowboy hat and a pistol in his holster, he's the lawman there.
Goodman's job is to track down rustlers, and his work keeps him busy.
"I've got one I started yesterday where 50 calves were taken," he says. "[They] come in at night, they will honk the horn, call the cows up. They'll pull in there with a trailer, load them up and they're gone."
For some ranchers, it could be days before they realize the herd has shrunk.
That gives rustlers plenty of time to transport cattle out of state, never to be seen again. They usually take them to an auction, Goodman says, where the profit can be huge.
"If I break into your house and steal a TV set or your stereo, I can take it to a pawn shop and I get 10 cents on the dollar, maybe, if I'm lucky," he says. "I can take your cows to an auction barn, and I get dollar-for-dollar."...
It seems like it'd be impossible to track down stolen animals. But Goodman says it comes down to a tried and true method of identification.
"Branding is the oldest form of identifying cattle, but it's still the most effective," he says.
In Texas, ranchers actually register their unique brand symbols.
"You have to put down what your brand is, draw a picture of it, and where are you going to put it on the animal," Goodman says. "Left hip, right hip, right shoulder, left shoulder — all of that is part of your brand registration."
They also keep track of ear tags and small tattoos inside the animals' ears. All those details go into the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association database.
When an animal goes missing, special rangers know exactly what markings to look for at the local auction.

Hell, I wouldn't know if my cows broke through the fence or got stolen.  No brands to identify them by.  Right now, not even any ear tags.