Department urged to be vigilant over sharp rise in sheep rustling

DEPARTMENT officials should view an unusually large request for sheep tags with suspicion due to a recent rise in sheep rustling, warns one leading industry figure.

Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) president Gabriel Gilmartin said: “We have noticed a worrying and increasing trend of sheep being stolen out of fields in recent times. The Department of Agriculture needs to be especially vigilant with unusually high requests for sheep tags from someone not previously known to be an active sheep farmer.

“It’s not unusual for an active farmer to go from 400 ewes to 600 ewes with investment, but it’s highly unlikely that someone with 12 or 13 ewes would increase the flock to 200 or 300 in a season. Sheep cannot be sold or slaughtered without tags so a request for a major increase in tags may have been made by an unscrupulous farmer.”