Sheep stolen from lifestyle block

Alan Ross is hoping the people who stole his sheep will be caught. PHOTO/ BEVAN CONLEY

During the last 10 days, 30 sheep have been taken from a lifestyle block bordering SH3 immediately south of Whanganui.

Whanganui Rural Community Constable Keith Butters says more than 1000 have disappeared from properties further south.

Marybank landowner Alan Ross has lived on the 2.6ha farmlet for 22 years. When he went down to his gate to get the newspaper around 7.30am on December 16, there didn't seem to be many sheep around.

Mr Ross has arthritis and uses crutches. His son looked around the property and found 30 of its 50 sheep were missing. Mr Ross had last seen a "big mob" of them six days earlier, on December 10 when he was doing some spraying.

He's informed Whanganui Police and Whanganui District Council's animal control team. He was told there was a lot of stock theft going on.

"You see it in the papers and think nothing of it, until it happens to you," he said.

There was no sign of any interference on the property - not even tyre marks by the loading ramp.

Now he's hoping someone passing on the busy highway during the last 10 days has seen something they can report to police- something that will help them catch the thief or thieves. He said the theft most probably happened at night.

Community Constable Keith Butters said there were no clues and no witnesses to the theft of Mr Ross's sheep. The amount stolen meant organisation, dogs, yards and trailers would have been needed.

"It's a big problem at the moment. Sheep are being flogged all around the place. There's something going on, because there's big numbers disappearing."

Carcasses are being found over banks right through the district, and especially out at the coast.

He's urging farmers to work together to put up cameras on rural roads, so that every vehicle can be noted.

He'd also like them to work in with Neighbourhood Support and to report anything suspicious to police and to the Farmers Weekly/Crimestoppers stock theft website.