Farmers’ rising tide of anger over crime

Rising rates of rustling and farm thefts are pushing farmers to breaking point but police urge farmers not to take matters into their own hands.

Dead cows have been stripped and lambs left orphaned in a spate of rustling and poaching from Waikato farms.

Farmers are fed up with not only the thefts of stock, but prized equipment in what police say is a seasonal rise in rural crime.

A rural resident, who did not wish to be named for fear of retribution, said two heifers were shot with a .22 rifle.

One was stripped to a carcass and the other was left dying from a gunshot wound for eight hours.

‘‘It makes me feel sick. It is cruel to just shoot it and leave it bleeding out into its lungs.’’

Owners of the cattle, which cost about $1500 each and weigh 170kg180kg, made the grim discovery while going to check on stock.

There had been a serious of ‘‘bizarre’’ incidents around the area, and residents had their suspicions, she said.

The rustling comes after Ohaupo farmer Arnold Reekers had a knife pulled on him by would-be thieves attempting to steal his quad bike as he chased them in his undies and gumboots.

Reekers said continued thefts would drive farmers to take up arms despite pleas from the police for people not to take matters into their own hands.

Sharemilker Philip Thomas agreed, saying he felt like he had been ‘‘kicked in the guts’’ after his quad bike was stolen as he milked stock just after dawn.

He stood in disbelief as the two men rode the bike off into Huntly. He warned some farmers were fed up and looking to take action.

‘‘It is going to get ugly. It is going to get to the stage where it is everyone for themselves. It brings out the worst in everyone. There are some guys out there saying, we don’t need to tolerate this.’’

Waikato Federated Farmers president Chris Lewis said farmers were lifting security.

‘‘Farmers are getting frustrated at the offending that is happening. They may deal with it in different ways, and may try to restrain the offenders.

‘‘They may scare them off in whatever way they feel necessary – it is up to the farmer what they do in that split-second decision.’’

Waikato police western area commander Naila Hassan urged all farmers to report crimes directly to police, saying they would follow up all cases.

‘‘They absolutely should not take matters into their own hands. Give us a call, we will get there as soon as we can.’’

Although she was not aware of any region-wide increase, Hassan said rural crime typically spiked in springtime.

There had been a rise in stock thefts in the Te Kauwhata, Meremere area and Kawhia.

‘‘There was a period where we did not have a presence there so we saw a spike in crime. We have boosted our presence in that area and are trying to work with the community to increase visibility and deployment.’’

She said Huntly police were investigating the quad bike theft. Quad bikes tended to be top of the list for thieves, who were likely selling them off or trading for drugs.

‘‘Police did attend and were given information by the informant, which they are following up on. This is an open investigation. We do want to catch these guys.’’

One of the biggest challenges was getting farmers to report crime, she said.

‘‘We want farmers to report it to us. It lets us identify if there are patterns, lets us know who is in the area, where this offending is occurring – we will act.’’

A Federated Farmers survey showed 80 per cent of farmers did not report thefts.

Federated Farmers meat and fibre chair Rick Powdrell said the organisation had been working with police to set up a national advisory panel to tackle rural crime.