Sheriff's deputies in Tulare County, near Fresno, are searching for a former ranch employee who allegedly stole $6,000 worth of bull semen last month.
The old-fashioned methods of impregnating cows evidently are too slow for modern dairy farmers, and ror decades, artificial insemination has been used to speed the process. Bull semen is especially important in milk production because cows, like humans, must be impregnated to begin lactation.
According to police, the Tulare County robbery occurred between 4 p.m. Jan. 26 and 2 a.m. Jan. 27, on a dairy in the rural town of Waukena. Investigators believe that Antemio Lopez, 27, "came on the ranch, stole the truck that had the container with the bull semen in it, and then left," said police. The truck was later recovered, but the semen and the suspected thief are still at large.
"We've had a lot of calls from people who have seen him," police said. "He's a transient who lives in his car." The bull semen, from various bulls, is worth $6,000, and the nitrogen container that holds it and keeps it chilled is valued at $846. There may be a market for the stolen semen among "backyarders" -- residents who keep three or four cows in their backyards to raise for beef, police said.
Bull semen thefts are not unusual. Sheriff's deputies in Tulare County, receive a couple reports a year about pilfered semen. However, the agricultural crimes unit, which has five detectives, is usually busy with more common problems like thefts of tractors, farm equipment and cows. It's not clear whether the bull semen was being obtained by conventional methods.
