This article is from page 3 of the 2013-08-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
CLARE farmers are being urged to be vigilant following a marked increase in cattle rustling in recent months – with fears now growing that an organised gang could be targeting farms in the county.
The latest incident, which took place on a farm in Quin earlier this month, saw more than € 10,000 worth of cattle being taken from the farm of Anthony Flannery in the early hours of the morning.
The raid specifically targeting high value animals, which the thieves would likely attempt to resell rather than slaughter.
However, in order to resell the animals the criminals would need to provide valid documentation and tags for the animals – which has led to a belief that they could be an organised operation rather than opportunist thieves.
According to Clare ICMSA chairman, Martin McMahon, a theft of animals at this time could be enough to put already stretched farmers out of business.
“The value of this stock to a farmer now is huge. After such a costly winter a lot of farmers have been trying to get cattle in shape so they could get as much money from them as they could. There are loans to banks and credit to be paid and a theft like this could put someone out of business,” he said.
“These people [the cattle rustler] would have to have a knowledge of farming and a way of disposing of these animals. If there is someone out there who is helping people to dispose of stolen animals then this is a very serious risk to farmers in Clare and something that needs to brought to an end quickly.
“The Guards and the Department of Agriculture needs to row in behind this quickly and bring an end to this situation. The paperwork needs to all add up, they need to have the right tags on their ears and they need to have the licence to dispose of these animals.
“If somebody is interfering with this then it is a very very serious crime.
“When they are caught then need to be severely dealt with.”
Gardaí in Ennis are currently investigating the incident which took place in the early ours of Friday, August 2. Among the cattle stolen was a six year old black Limousin cow, two other in-calf cows as well as an Aberdeen Angus.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Gardaí in Ennis on 065 6848100.