(File image) Huge numbers of sheep are being stolen in Devon (Image: Getty )
A farmer has revealed he’s been hit by sheep rustlers who have caused him a “soul destroying” £500,000 lossses and taken more than 4,500 of his animals.
Colin Abel, who runs Lower said the livestock crime spree was turning Dartmoor into the “Wild West”.
Each ewe taken is worth around £120, meaning Mr Abel is close to losing more than half a million pounds in stock, with another 400 sheep taken this winter.
for centuries but they are hard track in the national park and the stunning nature spot is now one of the country’s worst places for animal theft.
reports the stolen sheep are destined to be sold for meat on black market, but despite the huge numbers of missing animals, there have been no prosecutions for sheep theft in the last five years in the county.
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(File image) A possibly worried sheep baa-ing at a gate (Image: Getty )
Mr Abel told : “It’s beginning to feel like the Wild West up here when it comes to sheep crime; it’s soul-destroying. It impacts financially and on the viability of the business. I know farmers who are thinking about whether they want to continue.”
He added that he has stopped reporting the thefts to his insurer to avoid higher premiums.
His hardy upland flock of Scotch Blackface and Welsh mountain sheep spend nine-and-a-half months of the year on the moor, where they are most vulnerable to theft. Devon and Cornwall Police says livestock theft is challenging to police due to Dartmoor’s remote landscape.
Mr Abel added he has trialled satellite trackers for some of his sheep, but says it is prohibitively expensive to extend the measure to the rest of his 4,500-strong flock.
Farmers and police in Devon are trying to stop thieves stealing the sheep (Image: Getty )
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PC Julian Fry from Devon and Cornwall Police’s Rural Affairs Team, said the challenge is complicated by the suspected involvement of people from the farming industry.
He said: “The tragedy of this situation is that to steal livestock you have to know livestock and have the networks to shift them on.”
PC Fry, who grew up on the edge of Dartmoor and knows the farming community well, says despite the challenges, officers are working with abattoirs, commoners and farmers to build intelligence and employ “lots of tactical options”.
He assured. “Any report of livestock theft we take seriously, investigate and pursue all lines of inquiry. We hope to make this crime a thing of the past.”