Rural crime: Sheep ‘dumped’ at NSW saleyard

Police have confirmed further inquiries into the alleged dumping of 56 unidentified and untagged sheep at a southern NSW saleyard. See the latest.

Police have confirmed further inquiries are being made into the alleged dumping of 56 untagged and unmarked sheep at a southern NSW saleyard.

Detective Senior Constable Ned Doubleday from the Rural Crime Prevention Team in Wagga Wagga said inquiries had been made following last week’s media reports about the sheep, which had been found at Wagga Wagga saleyards in October last year.

He said the inquiries didn’t appear to relate to any recent sheep thefts in the region.

The sheep were likely to remain held at Wagga Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre for a few weeks while inquiries continued.

Detective Chief Inspector and co-ordinator of the NSW rural crime prevention team Cameron Whiteside said the sheep were unidentified and not tagged.

Inspector Whiteside said police would not reveal the description of the sheep, including age, breed and sex, because it could lead to someone trying to identify them and claim them as their own.

“We don’t want to run the risk of someone, who isn’t the owner, being able to identify them,” he said.

NSW Police state rural crime co-ordinator Detective Inspector Cameron Whiteside.

Inspector Whiteside said the sheep had never been tagged. He said leaving sheep untagged at saleyards was highly unusual and illegal.

He said it meant the sheep had been transported there illegally.

Inspector Whiteside also confirmed there was no CCTV footage of any truck movements to help identify the transport.

“These sheep have not been linked to a specific sheep theft report at this stage, hence the appeal to try and locate an owner,” he said.

Investigations have been ongoing and, to date, have failed to locate the sheep’s owner. Police are treating the dumping of the sheep as suspicious.

“The sheep will be impounded and sold by public auction if the owner cannot be located,” he said.

Inspector Whiteside urged the public to come forward with information or make anonymous reports through Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000.

Anyone with information can also contact Detective Senior Constable Ned Doubleday at Wagga Wagga Police on 0429 596 435.