Thieves steal Bellaire High School FFA students' new livestock trailer

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Just days before a group of Bellaire High School students were supposed to travel to a big statewide competition and show off their animals, someone stole their expensive livestock trailer and a few other things.

Several of the Bellaire FFA students still plan to compete against others across the state this weekend, but now they have to find another way to get their 11 cattle there. Thieves ripped off their brand new trailer and loaded it up with hay and feed before letting all the cattle out of the fence.

Dusty is preparing for a little scrub down. He's one of six cattle left wandering a busy road after thieves stole thousands of dollars worth of equipment and feed from the Bellaire FFA barn.

"He definitely could have died, if there was a car and they weren't paying attention," student Courtney Gonzalez said.

Less than three weeks ago, the Bellaire FFA acquired a 20-foot aluminum livestock trailer, it still had paper plates on it. It was parked near the barn. Then sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning, thieves broke onto the property, hooked up the trailer and then loaded it with student hay and feed.

"They snapped the lock off the storage container here, opened it up, and from that point, they just helped themselves to the feed and the hay that was in here," Bellaire High School ag teacher Mark Peak said.

They had to immediately restock the hay and feed for the animals to consume. What's even more disappointing, is that whoever stole the trailer, is in the same line of work as the FFA students.

"The bond, the brotherhood has been violated. And that's kind of the most disappointing thing in my mind. Whoever took the trailer, had to be in the industry," Peak said.

A police report had been filed and between the trailer, hay and feed the students are looking at a $16,000 loss. They hope someone recognizes the trailer and calls authorities.

"We're doing this for good and it's not like we deserve to get this stolen from us," Gonzalez said.

They do have insurance. However, the trailer won't be replaced before this weekend, so they are checking with other organizations to see if they can borrow one for the Washington County fair in Brenham this weekend.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Child injured in carnival ride accident at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A three-year-old girl was injured in an accident at the RodeoHouston carnival Wednesday.

The accident happened at about 2:20pm. Leroy Shafer, Chief Operating Officer of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, told Eyewitness News the little girl, who is tall for her age, met the height and weight requirements of the Techno Jump ride, but was riding with her brother, rather than an adult.

According to witnesses, the mother decided to get off the ride before it started, leaving the girl and her brother on the ride.

The ride has a lap belt and restraining bar, but Shafer says the boy was unable to prevent his sister from crawling out of the seat. The girl fell a short distance to the ground just after the ride started moving.

The girl was taken to Texas Children's Hospital to be checked out. Shafer said she suffered a contusion on the side of her head and abrasions on her face, but a CAT scan and X-ray tested negative for more serious injuries. She will be OK, minus a painful wound and a bad memory.

Shafer emphasizes it is parents' responsibility to watch out for their kids. He says the Techno Jump is not a kiddie ride.

"The thing I want to emphasize to parents...be responsible out here," Shafer said.

Rodeo officials also say the ride operator is not at fault because she met the height requirement for the ride and there was no way to know that she was so young.

Rodeo spokesperson Sarah Poole says the ride was last inspected on Tuesday, and passed inspection.

The ride was shut down for an investigation but because incident records came back clear for the ride, it reopened later Wednesday afternoon.

Jerry Hagins with the Texas Department of Insurance also says the state has one reported injury of a slip and fall in 2008, but it didn't happen in Houston. The state also said the ride is in compliance with insurance and inspection requirements through March 31, 2012.

Rodeo officials says they will enforcing a policy for the Techno Jump until the end of this year and then they'll review it for the future.

"The ride operators are not going to let a child that's under 48 inches of height ride on the ride if the companion is not an adult," Shafer said.

State Representative Garnett Coleman says lawmakers need to do their part to maintain safety. He's working on legislation to hold traveling carnivals to the same safety standards as permanent ones.

"Clearly there needs to be more scrutiny on traveling amusement rides," Coleman said in a statement. "This is a yearly story with this particular operator that someone is hurt or killed."

Last year, a man fell to his death from a carnival roller coaster ride on the last night of the rodeo.

But in this particular accident, parents we talked to said it was the parent, not the carnival ride operator or the rodeo, who they felt was at fault.

"If the child is 42 inches tall and they're three, then I would get on with them. She's eight and I'm getting on with her," parent Shanta Robinson said.

We asked CPS if they plan to investigate Wednesday's incident and the agency said they don't plan on it because it appears to be a case of a parent just making a bad decision.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

houston livestock show and rodeo, local

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