Livelihoods at risk as rustlers target flocks

Police in North Yorkshire have confirmed that sheep worth more than £120,000 have been stolen from Swaledale alone following a spate of 25 separate farmland raids in 10 months.

Since last May, a farm has been raided nearly every week in the Dales valley, famous as James Herriot country, and police suspect that criminals are specifically targeting sheep because of buoyant lamb prices and a demand for mutton in increasingly popular ethnic foods.

Some hill farmer victims admit that they may even have to consider switching their operations from sheep unless the criminals can be deterred from their area. Farmers held a meeting to discuss the problem with North Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan on Friday.

Sergeant Mark Hill, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “Two or three farmers have been repeat victims in the space of just a few hundred acres.”

One of the hardest hit is Colin Price whose family started farming locally 70 years ago. Mr Price’s valuable breeding stock has been taken from the open fells with up to 15 of the youngest and best bloods snatched in each raid.

“It makes you question whether you should go out of sheep and go into keeping more cattle,” he said.

“There are not a lot of rural lads going into the police. That’s not the fault of the police but it is a problem.”

George Wallbank and his son, Jack, have lost 60 sheep and 60 lambs which they believe have been slaughtered in make-shift abattoirs in Manchester.

Mr Wallbank Senior said: “It’s a serious problem. My family has been here since 1491 and you could be hanged for sheep stealing then.”

Local farmers stress sheep farming must be protected for the important role it plays in the local economy and its value to the world famous landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales.

Ms Mulligan said it was vital that farmers report any rustling incidents to the police and that the force did take the matter seriously. She feels other livestock thefts may be going unreported, with farmers writing off their losses because they do not have faith in the authorities to bring the culprits to justice.

Ms Mulligan said: “They feel nothing will get done about it and the people won’t be caught. We really need people to come forward with information. It is absolutely essential. If someone has stolen £120,000 goods out of a shop in a city centre there would be mayhem. It affects lots of livelihoods and we need to get better in dealing with it.”

A decision to cut officer numbers in North Yorkshire was recently overturned and there has been a major recruitment drive to get more specials on the beat in rural areas.

Police consider that more sophisticated electronic tagging systems have a key role to play in thwarting rustlers but Richard Pearson, the regional director of the National Farmers’ Union based in York, said more police training was needed for officers serving in the countryside.

He added: “This sort of crime has a devastating effect on farmers. Years of effort go into producing these breeding lines and they are simply vanishing from the fell. Every time they claim their insurance premiums go up. What we need to do is have a joint approach.

“If members of the public are offered lamb at a car boot sale or somewhere like that let us know so we can do something about it.”

The NFU is keen to work more closely with police to deter criminals, he added: “We want to work with the police to help train the officers what things to look out for. For example, if you find sheep without identification ear tags it should automatically sound alarm bells.”