By Manuel Jimenez

SANTO DOMINGO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The Dominican Republic put its army on alert along the northwest border with Haiti on Sunday as residents of the two nations traded allegations of cross-border incursions, kidnapping and cattle rustling, local media reported.

Armed Haitians crossed into the Dominican Republic on Saturday near the community of Dajabon, 175 miles (280 km) northwest of Santo Domingo, and abducted two workmen who were dredging sand in the Massacre River, authorities said.

The abduction apparently was in retaliation for an incursion by about 50 armed Dominican cattle farmers who had crossed into Haiti on Friday to claim 16 cows and two horses they alleged had been stolen from them.

The Dominican army was reinforced along the border, while civil authorities and soldiers were negotiating with Haitian police, officials told Reuters.

"We trust the Haitian authorities will help us to resolve this problem as soon as possible and that will diminish the tension in the region," said a Dominican official who asked not to be identified.

Pedro Jose Suero Rodriguez, president of the Dajabon Association of Cattle Raisers, blamed Haitians for the frequent theft of cattle near the border.

"If the army authorities do not guarantee the security of our livestock, we will go to protect them," Suero Rodriguez said.

The Massacre River separates the two nations that share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Dominican-Haitian relations have been strained in recent weeks after Haiti banned the importation of Dominican chickens and eggs because of the discovery of bird flu in the Dominican Republic. (Editing by Jane Sutton and Philip Barbara)

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