A key agricultural authority has slammed the theft of more than 5000 sheep worth more than $1.7m from a western Queensland property and pointed to a concerning increase in stock thefts.<\/p>\n
Rural and stock crime squad detectives have called for public help following the theft of about 5500 dorper sheep from a property outside of Blackall on the Blackall-Isisford Rd.<\/p>\n
Police said in a statement the theft occurred between February and May this year.<\/p>\n
The value of the stolen dorper sheep is estimated at more than $1.7m. <\/p>\n
AgForce general president Shane McCarthy said the organisation was seeing a concerning rise in stock theft statewide, and this particular case took a lot of dishonesty and audacity. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thinking it was probably a few here and there and they\u2019ve built up the numbers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little disturbing, that\u2019s not a small number of sheep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr McCarthy said the purpose of a theft that size was unknown, but in considering logistics, it might have been someone with stock sense and skill.<\/p>\n
Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Elliot said livestock theft was a significant concern, with thefts having a devastating impact on farmers and the broader community.<\/p>\n
Sgt Elliot said livestock theft could result in substantial financial losses and placed additional pressure on farming businesses already facing challenging conditions. <\/p>\n
\u201cLivestock theft investigations can be complex, often spanning large geographical areas, which is why we work closely with producers, saleyards, transport operators and industry stakeholders to identify offenders and disrupt criminal activity,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Blackall\u2013Tambo Regional Council Mayor Andrew Martin said the doper species was well known for going through fences, and \u201cpoddy dodging\u201d, or stock theft, had been around for more than a century. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey would go through a kitchen colander if they had the opportunity,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo lose that many sheep, it may have been one single operator but I doubt it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it was, it\u2019s even more suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police are urging anyone who has seen dorper sheep with white National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) tags or information about their whereabouts to come forward.<\/p>\n
Investigators are interested in speaking with anyone who observed suspicious stock movements, livestock transport activity, or other unusual behaviour in the area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A key agricultural authority has slammed the theft of more than 5000 sheep worth more than $1.7m from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31386,100556,142522,142514,142532,136475,142501,142504,47330,142516,142537,53710,38151,142534,93619,142494,142498,37726,127247,142502,142489,121765,142493,142507,13938,22,21,24542,142517,29113,30091,43598,142519,142490,3426,142527,100123,92001,142508,389,142530,142513,142521,142536,1185,142495,142518,142506,70221,142512,142520,72584,142499,142525,142510,1047,120988,142515,142533,142505,142496,142491,16209,46595,142509,142503,142524,142529,142528,142500,142492,142523,142526,52147,142535,38937,40224,49036,36776,142538,54275,106145,128653,15931,142531,142511,142497,5716,47262],"class_list":["post-86041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-1-7-million","tag-1-7m","tag-1-7m-qld-property-heist","tag-5500-sheep","tag-a-concerning-increase","tag-a-concerning-rise","tag-a-concerning-statewide-rise","tag-a-devastating-impact","tag-a-few","tag-a-key-agricultural-authority","tag-a-kitchen-colander","tag-a-little","tag-a-lot","tag-a-property-outside","tag-a-queensland-property","tag-a-significant-concern","tag-a-small-number","tag-a-statement","tag-a-theft","tag-a-western-queensland-property","tag-about-5500-dorper-sheep","tag-additional-pressure","tag-agforce","tag-agforce-general-president-shane-mccarthy","tag-appeal","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-blackall","tag-blackall-tambo","tag-businesses","tag-conditions","tag-criminal-activity","tag-dishonesty-and-audacity","tag-dorper-sheep","tag-farmers","tag-february-and-may","tag-fences","tag-flock","tag-forward-investigators","tag-industry-stakeholders","tag-large-geographical-areas","tag-livestock-theft","tag-livestock-theft-investigations","tag-livestock-transport-activity","tag-logistics","tag-more-than-1-7m","tag-more-than-5000-sheep","tag-more-than-5500-dorper-sheep","tag-more-than-a-century","tag-mr-mccarthy","tag-nlis","tag-offenders","tag-one-single-operator","tag-other-unusual-behaviour","tag-poddy-dodging","tag-police","tag-producers","tag-public-help","tag-regional-council-mayor-andrew-martin","tag-rural-and-stock-crime-squad-detectives","tag-saleyards","tag-sgt-elliot","tag-sheep","tag-size","tag-stock-crime","tag-stock-sense-and-skill-detective-senior-sergeant-paul-elliot","tag-stock-theft","tag-stock-thefts","tag-substantial-financial-losses","tag-suspicious-stock-movements","tag-tags-or-information","tag-that-many-sheep","tag-the-blackall-isisford-rd-police","tag-the-broader-community","tag-the-doper-species","tag-the-numbers","tag-the-opportunity","tag-the-organisation","tag-the-purpose","tag-the-stolen-dorper-sheep","tag-the-theft","tag-thefts","tag-their-whereabouts","tag-thieves","tag-this-particular-case","tag-this-year-the-value","tag-transport-operators-and","tag-warning","tag-white"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}