EDMONTON (Staff) – Two horses stolen from a High River, Alta., pasture were recovered when a Brooks man identified his newest purchases as being on a wanted poster.
Val Broadfoot, a High River veterinarian, is happy and somewhat surprised to have her horses back so quickly.
They were taken between July 18 and 23, said Broadfoot. She notified police and brand inspectors and then began calling auction marts, horse dealers and sending out wanted posters. It was one of those posters placed in the Brooks auction mart that led to the return of the horses.
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“It’s amazing that the fellow who bought them was able to tell them apart from the thousands of horses out there,” she said.
Cpl. Ray Danforth, of the High River RCMP detachment, says a brand on one of the horses confirmed to the buyer that he had “hot” horses.
Danforth said a rash of horse and tack thefts occurred in southern Alberta this summer. He said the recent recovery will help police trace these horses back to the thieves. High River RCMP are working in conjunction with their livestock investigator based in Calgary, and with brand inspectors, but it is an uphill battle.
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“There are a lot of places to get rid of horses in Alberta and we have to check them all,” said Danforth.
The week following the theft of Broadfoot’s horses, a trailer, tack and two more horses belonging to people near Calgary disappeared from the same pasture. They have not been recovered.
Broadfoot says she credits “getting the information out there quickly” for allowing her to recover her animals.
