Prevention Is Not The Whole Solution
Published in the Western Morning News - 11/06/19
Like many people, I have been completely engrossed in Game of Thrones and what was a piece of television history recently, particularly with the Battle of Winterfell. This came back to mind when I read recently of Dorset Police now targeting trucks involved in sheep rustling.
This additional robust tactic is very welcome. Farmers have been asked to take precautions and prevention will always be the main strategy.However, this is not a single poacher taking a Sunday dinner and needs to be stopped. This is organised crime on an industrial scale and over the last two years has grown exponentially.
Talk to the National Crime Agency and they refer to networks of individuals seeking common cause and new income streams. Sheep rustling is now lucrative if you can achieve economies of scale.
With the average flock in the South West being 418 and recently a farm near Dorchester having 211 sheep stolen, this can be devastating, with some farmers now considering if it is worth still farming sheep.
You can’t put 200 sheep in a 4x4 so the trucks, abattoirs and end-user food outlets are where the crooks may come undone. While sheep are alive and tagged, they are a risk and they need to be processed swiftly. What happens next is also where the endeavour is vulnerable.
I spent time recently discussing this issue with Julia Mulligan, Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire and also chair of the National Rural Crime Network.
They have the largest dedicated rural task force in the country. Prevention for them is huge, yes, but so are enforcement strategies aimed at the vertically-integrated supply chain after the theft.
To come full circle – the Battle of Winterfell was about protecting Bran Stark, but like a flock of sheep all the prevention is sometimes to no avail. Sometimes you absolutely have to ‘stick them with the pointy end’. Well done to Dorset Police for starting to do so.
