FAIRVIEW, Alta. – A string of horse thefts in northern British Columbia has baffled RCMP and prompted horse owners to doubt their neighbors.
“We have no concrete leads,” said RCMP Const. Norm Lapointe of Fort St. John, B.C.
“We have lots of rumors.”
Lapointe spent three days in Alberta on his days off searching fields and checking out leads for the 15 horses that have been stolen from the Fort St. John area since June.
Occasionally police get reports of stolen horses, but nothing to this extent, he said. “This is not common at all.”
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The stolen horses are all friendly and easy to catch.
“They appear to take horses close to the main road. The horses are friendly and they walk right in,” Lapointe said. “They’ve got to be pretty bold to drive in someone’s yard and load a horse.”
Patti Jo Collett said thieves stole her 25-year-old barrel racing horse from a pasture close to her home at the end of October.
Collett knew thieves had stolen horses from nearby farms, but never expected anyone to take her old horse, which has sore front legs. Rabbit had been used in the rodeo circuit for roping, hazing, bull dogging and barrel racing, and is recognizable by many people. Her two-year-old daughter was beginning to ride the quiet horse.
Collett has talked to people at auction markets and meat plants in her search for the missing animal.
She said the horse has more sentimental than retail value.
Because so many horses have been stolen, neighbors are looking suspiciously at each other, she said.
“Everybody is starting to turn on everybody.”
Lapointe said police have few clues. People sometimes wait until they drive home to report a suspicious vehicle. Some have even waited a day or a week before phoning police.
Lapointe said they “can’t follow a ghost” and said when someone sees a suspicious vehicle, they should phone the police on their cell phone and if possible follow the vehicle at a distance.
“Call right away and follow. We’ll catch up,” said Lapointe, who tracked down a vehicle on a foggy night recently and questioned the suspect. Lapointe suspects the horses are being sold across the Prairies at meat markets or as quiet horses for children, which may prove to be the thieves’ mistake.
Stealing a horse isn’t like stealing an all-terrain vehicle, he said. People become attached to their horses and will go to great lengths to recover them.
“There’s a lot of word on the street someone will get hurt. It’s gone too far,” he said. “Horses are more than a piece of property. It’s a member of the family.”
A website at www.northernhorse.com/prcha has been created with photos and descriptions of the stolen horses in an effort to alert the public.
“We just want to get the information out there for people to know about it,” said Kim Lucas of Fort St. John, who is helping spearhead an awareness campaign.
