Lanigan RCMP laid charges following a five-month long cattle theft investigation at Caprina Farms and Ranching located near Jansen, Saskatchewan.
Lanigan RCMP, the Alberta RCMP Livestock Investigations Section (LIS) and members of the Livestock Services of Saskatchewan (LSS) were involved in the investigation.
Lanigan RCMP, the Alberta RCMP LIS and LSS members conducted a search of Caprina Farms located in the R.M. of Prairie Rose on June 20.
The search resulted in a substantial recovery of Albertan and Saskatchewan cattle. Reportedly, a sizeable number of animals were trafficked by the accused.
59-year-old Monika Ribi of the R.M. of Prairie Rose was charged with the following offences: Five counts of Theft of Cattle, Sec. 338(2) of the Criminal Code; two counts of Trafficking Stolen Cattle, Sec. 338(2) of the Criminal Code; Fraudulently Marking Cattle, Sec. 338(1)(b)(ii) of the Criminal Code; and Causing Animals to be in Distress, Sec. 4(1) of the Animal Protection Act.
Also, 59-year-old Andre Ribi of the R.M. of Prairie Rose was charged with the following: Theft of Cattle, Sec. 338(2) of the Criminal Code; Trafficking Stolen Cattle, Sec. 338(2) of the Criminal Code; Fraudulently Marking Cattle, Sec. 338(1)(b)(ii) of the Criminal Code; and Causing Animals to be in Distress, Sec. 4(1) of the Animal Protection Act.
The Ribi’s have been released with conditions and are scheduled to make their first appearance in Humboldt Provincial Court on August 24, 2020.
“We recognize the challenges that come with managing farming operations – it's a big job. Having farmers and ranchers able to specifically identify that something was amiss with their herd or that animals were missing and then take time out of their day to report it was key to this investigation,” said Staff Sergeant Greg Abbott of the RCMP Central District Management Team.
“In this instance, it specifically resulted in linkages being made to other inter-provincial files and ultimately resulted in a much larger investigation and charges laid.”
The RCMP Livestock Section reminded cattle owners of the importance of branding for ownership identification purposes.
Branding is the only definite means of animal identification.
