Farmers on alert after theft of 60 lambs
POLICE ARE urging farmers to be vigilant after dozens of lambs were stolen near Harrogate.
About 60 lambs were taken from the Lofthouse area during the theft, which happened last Thursday night and was revealed by police yesterday.
North Yorkshire Police have appealed for witnesses and said that the thieves would have needed transportation like a cattle trailer to remove the large quantity of sheep overnight quickly.
Pc David Mackay, of North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce, said: “The sheep were marked with red across their shoulders, which may now have faded.
“They have been described as not yet ready and still quite small, and so there is the possibility that they may be on land somewhere.”
The theft comes after 10 lambs were stolen from a property in Otley Road, near Beckwithshaw, Harrogate, some time last week.
Police have warned that stolen farm animals are often used in the illegal meat trade.
Inspector Jon Grainge, of North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce, added: “Over recent years, North Yorkshire Police and surrounding rural forces have taken an increasing number of reports relating to the theft of sheep.
“The Rural Taskforce has been focusing on this problem, and we have identified that sheep have been stolen, often in ones and twos, sometimes in trailer-loads.
“Some will be destined almost immediately for the illegal meat trade, while others are ‘hidden’ in open view in fields and barns across a wide geographic area.”