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Livestock Board to help probe horse hair thefts

The Wyoming Livestock Board will help investigate horse hair thefts in four counties around the state.

Almost a hundred horses have been robbed of their tails, so far, but so no suspects have been found.

Law Enforcement Administrator for the Wyoming Livestock Board Jimmy Dean Silersays horse hair theft has not been reported on this scale in the state before, but he can see the motivation.

“They make a lot of belts and other horse hair products, key rings and stuff, and I’m guessing it’s a fairly profitable business,” Siler said. “So if you can get your product without having to pay wholesale – if you can get it almost free – that makes it a good profitable business.”

Siler wasn’t sure what exactly the perpetrator could be charged with, either. County officials from affected counties will meet next week to share their findings.

Irina Zhorov is a reporter for Wyoming Public Radio. She earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the University of Wyoming. In between, she worked as a photographer and writer for Philadelphia-area and national publications. Her professional interests revolve around environmental and energy reporting and she's reported on mining issues from Wyoming, Mexico, and Bolivia. She's been supported by the Dick and Lynn Cheney Grant for International Study, the Eleanor K. Kambouris Grant, and the Social Justice Research Center Research Grant for her work on Bolivian mining and Uzbek alpinism. Her work has appeared on Voice of America, National Native News, and in Indian Country Today, among other publications.