BY SUNEHRA AHMED for Stock & Land
A central Victorian farmer had $12,000 worth of ewes stolen from his property in Strathlea in late May.
Merino sheep farmer Tony Butler said over 80 ewes were stolen from his farm’s paddocks on May 21.
A local witness was allegedly threatened by the thieves when they loaded sheep onto a van.
Police are currently investigating the incident, which they believe could be linked to an organised crime network.
Investigators have been told four men were witnessed herding the sheep into a light-blue coloured enclosed trailer at Browns Track at about 8.30am.
An Iveco dual-rear-wheel white van was towing the trailer, and the men were perceived to have a Middle Eastern appearance.
Police are urging witnesses and people with CCTV or dashcam footage to come forward.
Mr Butler, who runs 7000-9000 sheep, alleged that the incident was not isolated, saying this was not the first time sheep had been stolen from his farm.
“Sometimes I’m about 20-30 sheep short, but this time it was 80,” he said.
“I think agriculture is under assault from all directions.
“I suspect that they chose the day of the farmer’s protest in Melbourne last week for a reason.”
Victoria Police Farm Crime Co-ordination Unit leader Inspector Paul Hargreaves said authorities suspected the incident was linked to organised crime involving the illegal slaughter and sale of meat.
“We don’t know if it’s multiple networks doing that, but we would suspect that those that are involved may have done it multiple times,” he said.
“It’s important that the public keep their eye out for this.”
Inspector Hargreaves said the Farm Crime Co-ordination Unit was working with NSW Police and the regional crime prevention team to find the group linked to the incident.
“We believe that people are very organised in what they’re doing, and have knowledge of livestock and the farming industry to steal multiples of sheep,” he said.
“So they’ve either been stolen to cull for meat, or they’ve been stolen to take interstate.
“And when you factor in the dry times that we are in, in the southern parts of Victoria, and across South Australia, it starts to question where the stolen livestock are going.
“Because it would be hard to understand if they were going into breeding programs or something similar in the state of Victoria.
“What’s concerning us is that we’ve had some significant thefts reported in recent weeks and months.”
Kilmore East sheep farmer Kevin Butler said he and other farmers in the region had been on the lookout for incidents of theft happening on farms.
“We’re just so exposed to theft,” he said.
“The fear we have of theft of our livestock or machinery is really endemic here in rural Victoria.
“And we all want to do something about it.”
Ever since 381 sheep were stolen from his farm in 2023, Kevin has been creating online groups of local farmers dedicated to reporting farm crime incidents.
“What we want to do is set up WhatsApp groups of concerned farmers with the aim of sharing information about suspicious activities on or near their farms,” he said.
Inspector Hargreaves said online farm watch groups would likely benefit farmers and police in finding perpetrators of crimes on farms.
“It’s great that they have their eyes and ears on the ground,” he said.
“They’re developing their own community tree so they can keep in contact, and that’s a good thing because it’s an expansion of neighbourhood watch.
“It’s also important that we are kept in the loop from that, because the more we know, the more we understand, and the more concentrated our effort is.
“In this case, the movement of stolen sheep would be seen by people who might otherwise not know how illegal the circumstances are.”
Inspector Hargreaves urged farmers to call Triple Zero if they noticed anything suspicious.
“Given the frequency of it, if it feels wrong, it potentially is wrong,” he said.
“Even if they think there’s nothing going on, they’re probably the people we need to hear from,” Inspector Hargreaves said.
Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online.
