$8.5m lost to livestock theft over five years in Victoria
Victorian farmers have lost more than $8.5 million to livestock theft over five years, with the majority of cases unsolved. See which areas were targeted the most in the past year.
VICTORIAN farmers have lost at least $2.1 million dollars to livestock theft in the past year, with 85 per cent of cases remaining unsolved.
The Weekly Times can reveal between April last year and March this year, there were 248 criminal offences recorded in Victoria where livestock was stolen, with 211 of those marked unsolved.
The value of livestock stolen during this time was worth $2,155,382, according to data from Victoria’s Crime Statistics Agency. Sheep made up $1,888,564 of that and cattle $232,700.
Over the last five years, farmers have lost more than $8.5 million to livestock theft and each year more than 80 per cent of offences were unsolved.
There were at least 153 sheep, 50 cattle and 11 horses stolen from Victorian farms and rural areas between April last year and March this year.
Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said the numbers were “startling” but were likely even higher due to underreporting.
“I have spoken to numerous farmers over the last few months who have experienced farm crime,” Mr Jochinke said.
“Livestock theft is an area that is underreported because the theft is usually found well after the event.”
He said it took a thief who knew what they were doing.
“To steal livestock, someone has to know that trade and have land,” he said. “They have to have the ability to rebirth the animal with a new ID tag.”
Victoria Police Farm Crime Inspector Karl Curran said investigating rural crimes was “problematic for a number of reasons”, including no neighbours and witnesses in remote locations, limited CCTV, difficulty establishing exactly when the livestock was stolen and reluctance of the public to report suspicious behaviour.
“Police alone cannot solve all crimes,” Insp Curran said. “We need the assistance of the public to help us. There are many pieces in the puzzle and the smallest piece of information can assist us.”
He added it was “imperative” that farmers secured property and livestock, and performed regular stock counts.
Mr Jochinke agreed farmers needed to do what they could to protect themselves by speaking up and reporting suspicious activity.
“The more farmers speak up about crime, the more resources will be dedicated to it so more cases can be solved,” he said.
The local government areas that recorded the highest level of livestock thefts were Southern Grampians (15), Pyrenees (10), Northern Grampians, Moyne, Golden Plains, Glenelg, Corangamite, Strathbogie (all with 9 offences each) and Ararat (8).
Insp Curran said these areas, excluding Strathbogie, were large sheep farming areas.
“There are higher instances of sheep theft over cattle as they are smaller and easier to steal and transport,” he said.
Regional local government areas that recorded one or zero cases of livestock theft included Alpine, Indigo, Towong, Wodonga, Mildura, Surf Coast and Swan Hill.
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