Family’s cattle stolen in Manuelito

By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

MANUELITO — A family in Manuelito is concerned about cattle rustlers in the area after four of their cattle were stolen.

Christina Arviso said that the cattle were stolen on Dec. 29 between 11 p.m. and midnight. The stolen cattle include one baby calf, two 2-year-old cows and one 4-year-old female that had a bell around its neck.The cattle are branded with the letters FPI.

Arviso said that this is not the first incident where the family’s livestock has been stolen, but it’s the first time that the thieves took a large amount of animals.

Like so many, she said that she ran into jurisdictional problems in trying to report any of the cases.

“It’s hard to know who to go to when you’ve got problems,” Arviso said.

Arviso’s husband contacted a Navajo Nation ranger in Window Rock who is investigating the incident.

She said she is hoping that making the problem known will help to prevent people from stealing livestock in the future.

“If it’s in the paper at least maybe they’ll think about it before they do something again,” she said.

She said that the theft of the cattle has caused a lot of stress for her and her family.

“We couldn’t sleep. We would wake up thinking about it not knowing when they’re going to strike again,” she said.

“It would be nice if they brought the cattle back because that’s the only cattle we have,” she said.