Livestock theft Victoria: Search offences by local government area
About 85 per cent of Victorian livestock theft cases went unsolved in the past financial year, with coronavirus restrictions now hampering police attending stock sales to investigate. See which areas thieves targeted the most by searching our interactive database.
A YEAR on from the establishment of Victoria Police’s dedicated farm crime unit, livestock theft remains high, with new data revealing 85 per cent of cases went unsolved in the last financial year.
The latest data from Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, analysed by The Weekly Times, reveals there were 266 offences where livestock was stolen between July 2019 and June 2020, and 225 were marked unsolved.
It is the second highest number of offences in the last five years, just one offence less than the previous year.
Over the last five years, Victorian farmers have lost almost $8.3 million to livestock theft and more than half of regional local government areas have seen an increase in the number of offences recorded.
The Weekly Times can also reveal Victorian farmers lost more than $18 million to livestock theft over the last 15 years.
In 2019-20, $2,086,922 worth of livestock was reported stolen – the highest value in the last 15 years. This included at least 156 sheep and 55 cattle.
The number of offences were highest in Southern Grampians (20), Corangamite (13), Pyrenees (11) Moyne (10), Strathbogie (10), Baw Baw (9), East Gippsland (9) and Ararat (9).
Victoria Police Farm Crime Inspector Karl Curran said coronavirus restrictions had hampered his unit attending stock sales to investigate offences and suspicious behaviour.
“It is a priority of the Farm Crime Coordination Unit and Farm Crime Liaison Officers to recommence saleyard attendances once all restrictions are lifted to work closely with the industry to address any criminal behaviour,” he said.
Insp Curran said stock theft was a “complex crime” and police needed the public to report their suspicions. He encouraged livestock owners to take preventive measures, including regular stock counts and installing security cameras.
Victorian Farmers Federation livestock group president Leonard Vallance said it was premature to comment on the effectiveness of the Farm Crime Coordination Unit after just 12 months.
“It might be a bit early to be judging their performance because it takes a considerable amount of time to gather evidence and a lot of watching and observing individuals to get a prosecution,” he said.
“We do have concerns about how much resourcing rural police have.”
He said livestock theft remained an issue because of its value and reminded both farmers and community members to stay vigilant around their properties.
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