2024-09-04 18:05:27
One billion pesos lost due to meat slaughter in 2024. The executive director of the Huila Cattle Ranchers Committee, Luceny Muñoz, told Diario del Huila that so far this year around 200 heads of cattle have been victims of slaughter. The municipalities in northern Huila are the most affected.
HUILA DAILY, PANORAMA
By: Gustavo Patiño
In January of this year, a farmer from the Vegalarga district had seven dairy cows stolen from him. These were found in a nearby pasture. Six of them had been stripped of their meat and only the bones remained. The seventh was being attacked by the chulos or vultures, as it had been left dead, apparently due to the thieves’ lack of time. According to Luceny Muñoz, executive director of the Huila Cattle Ranchers Committee, the losses due to this crime so far in 2024 are in the millions and, for the most part, affect small cattle ranchers and dairy herds.
Muñoz warns that cattle rustling and butchering not only represent a devastating economic blow for producers, but also reveal a series of structural deficiencies in the management and control of this problem, including the underreporting of cases and the lack of adequate health controls.
Increase in butchering
Butchering, a type of crime that involves the direct slaughter of animals on farms, pastures or corrals at night, has become a constant threat to ranchers in Huila. In a conversation with Diario del Huila, Luceny Muñoz explained that, in 2024, this crime has shown a worrying increase, especially in the municipalities of the northern part of the department, such as Tello, Baraya, Villavieja, Neiva and Campoalegre.
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“So far in 2024, we have seen a worrying increase in butchering, mainly in the northern part of the department,” said Muñoz. This crime not only entails the direct loss of the animals that have been slaughtered, but also has a devastating impact on the productive and genetic capacity of livestock herds. “It is sad for the rancher because those animals that are slaughtered for butchering are normally dairy cows, with superior genetics and which are also producing income from the milk they generate,” he stressed.
Two pregnant cows
A recent case in the municipality of Campoalegre illustrates the magnitude of the problem. There, two pregnant cows with embryos of high genetic value, acquired by insemination through livestock promotion programs of the Government of Huila, were slaughtered in a single night. “The producer, in addition to losing the animal, loses the value of the genetics that he has been building up for a long time,” explained Muñoz, “the value of those two slaughtered cows is close to 16 million pesos, almost 20 million that the rancher lost in a single night.”
The economic losses resulting from these crimes are significant. Muñoz said that the Huila Cattle Ranchers Committee has documented nearly 80 cases of butchering so far this year, affecting approximately 200 heads of cattle. “The losses, estimated at one billion pesos, are particularly serious for small ranchers, who depend on a few heads of cattle for their livelihood,” said Muñoz.
On average, a dairy cow with high genetic value can cost around 4.5 million pesos, which means that each slaughtering can represent an irrecoverable loss for producers. “A dairy farm can easily be made up of six or seven heads of cattle, and if they slaughter two or three, they are losing 50% of their dairy herd,” added Muñoz. This type of loss can be devastating for small producers, who not only lose the economic value of the animal, but also the daily income it generated through milk production.
Underreporting
Despite the seriousness of the situation, one of the most significant problems facing the livestock sector in Huila is the underreporting of cases of butchering and cattle rustling. According to Luceny Muñoz, the lack of official reports is a major obstacle to combating these crimes effectively. “Normally, producers who have been victims of butchering do not even go to the police station or the Prosecutor’s Office,” said Muñoz. This reluctance to report is due to the widespread perception that it is not worth the effort, since there is no chance of recovering the slaughtered animals. The director of the Cattle Ranchers’ Committee explained that the process of reporting a case of butchering is complex and, in many cases, frustrating for producers.
“The producer sees that it is an animal that has been slaughtered for butchering, where he has only found the bones and parts that are no longer marketable, and for him it is a waste of time to go and file a complaint because he already knows that absolutely nothing will be recovered,” he said. This feeling of helplessness is common among cattle farmers, who feel that the justice system does not provide them with the necessary support to deal with this situation.
Underreporting is a serious challenge because it prevents a complete view of the magnitude of the problem. And it makes it difficult to implement effective strategies to combat it. “We have around 80 documented cases with around 200 heads of cattle affected in 2024. But we know that these numbers are far from reflecting the full reality of the problem,” Muñoz admitted. Underreporting also affects the ability of authorities to identify crime patterns and act proactively in the most affected areas.
Cattle rustling
In contrast, when it comes to cattle rustling, which is the theft of animals on the hoof, ranchers are more likely to report it. “When the crime is no longer butchering but cattle rustling, ranchers do report it because there is a possibility that, through careful work by asking the police or the Carabineros line, these animals can be rescued and actually recovered,” explained Muñoz. In these cases, the possibility of recovering the cattle motivates ranchers to get involved in the judicial process. But in the case of butchering, where the loss is irreversible, the motivation to report it is much lower.
In the north
The analysis of the documented cases in 2024 reveals that the municipalities in the northern part of Huila are the most affected by butchering and cattle rustling. “In the municipalities in the northern part, such as Tello, Baraya, Villavieja, Neiva and Campoalegre. This is where we have seen the greatest impact of this phenomenon,” said Muñoz. These municipalities, which are key to the department’s livestock production, have been targeted by criminal gangs that operate with impunity in the region. “What the police tell us is that, although there is no structured gang with an exact name as in previous years, there are actors who carry out different tasks within the crime chain,” explained Muñoz. These actors include people who report on vulnerable farms, as well as those who transport and buy the meat produced by butchering.
Muñoz also mentioned that, although the northern area has been the most affected in 2024, at the beginning of the year significant cases were also reported in the municipalities of Tesalia and La Plata, in the west of the department. “At the beginning of the year, the municipality of Tesalia and La Plata in the west were also greatly affected. But we have seen that it has already decreased and the gangs are now in the northern area,” he said. This shift in criminal activity suggests that the gangs of thieves and cattle rustlers adapt. And they change location in response to the security measures implemented in different regions.
There are not enough controls
Another critical aspect of this problem is the lack of adequate health controls by municipal and departmental health departments. According to Muñoz, meat produced by butchering is often sold at points of sale near urban centers or even in the same sidewalks, which represents a risk to public health. “In many cases, this meat is sold in the same sidewalks. This increases the risk that it reaches the consumer without any type of health control,” he warned.
The lack of rigorous controls at meat sales points is a factor that contributes to the perpetuation of these crimes. “To the extent that there is strong control in compliance with hygienic-sanitary requirements at the sales points, and that the relevant documentation on the origin of the carcasses is required, this could help prevent these crimes,” argued Muñoz. However, this type of control is practically non-existent in many rural areas of Huila, which facilitates the commercialization of meat from butchering and cattle rustling.
Call to the authorities
Muñoz also called on health authorities to intensify controls and carry out more rigorous inspections at meat sales points. “This is where we must also call on the municipal or departmental Health Department. Because as long as there is strong control not only in compliance with hygienic-sanitary requirements at the points of sale, but also requesting documentation of where these carcasses come from, we could reduce the demand for meat from butchering,” he suggested. The lack of adequate controls not only puts the health of consumers at risk, but also perpetuates a cycle of criminality that is difficult to break. “As long as there are buyers of this type of meat, there will always be mutton dealers and cattle rustlers trying to steal,” concluded Muñoz, calling for responsibility from both the authorities and consumers.