HebrideanUltraTerfHecate on Nostr: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly44r4pvd5o He says in the last decade he has ...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly44r4pvd5o
He says in the last decade he has lost nearly £500,000 worth of livestock to sheep rustling, which is pushing some farmers to the brink of quitting or bringing their flocks off the moors.
Devon and Cornwall Police says livestock theft is challenging to police but its officers are "pursuing every line of inquiry" through "forensics, surveillance, tracking and more". Sheep have grazed on Dartmoor in Devon for centuries but roaming free, they are hard to keep an eye on and the national park is among the five worst areas in the country for sheep rustling.
Mr Abel's family has run Lower Godsworthy Farm in Tavistock since 1888.
He estimates more than 4,500 sheep have gone missing in the last decade and with each ewe worth roughly £120, that is more than £500,000 worth of livestock, he says.
His hardy upland flock of Scotch Blackface and Welsh mountain sheep spend nine-and-a-half months of the year on the moor, where they are most vulnerable to theft.
"It impacts financially and on the viability of the business," he says. "I know farmers who are thinking about whether they want to continue."
He says in the last decade he has lost nearly £500,000 worth of livestock to sheep rustling, which is pushing some farmers to the brink of quitting or bringing their flocks off the moors.
Devon and Cornwall Police says livestock theft is challenging to police but its officers are "pursuing every line of inquiry" through "forensics, surveillance, tracking and more". Sheep have grazed on Dartmoor in Devon for centuries but roaming free, they are hard to keep an eye on and the national park is among the five worst areas in the country for sheep rustling.
Mr Abel's family has run Lower Godsworthy Farm in Tavistock since 1888.
He estimates more than 4,500 sheep have gone missing in the last decade and with each ewe worth roughly £120, that is more than £500,000 worth of livestock, he says.
His hardy upland flock of Scotch Blackface and Welsh mountain sheep spend nine-and-a-half months of the year on the moor, where they are most vulnerable to theft.
"It impacts financially and on the viability of the business," he says. "I know farmers who are thinking about whether they want to continue."