Sheep killed at Lagoon Farm, Napier, lambs motherless

Lagoon Farm manager Mark Miller (left) and city council director Lance Titter with the motherless labs after thieves butchered two ewes on the property. Photo / Paul Taylor

At least two lambs have had to be rehomed after two ewes were butchered by thieves in a paddock on the outskirts of Napier early on Thursday morning.

The sheep were on Lagoon Farm, off Prebensen Drive and owned by the Napier City Council.

Farm manager Mark Miller says they were clearly stolen for the meat however they wouldn't have been particularly fit for human consumption.

They were six years old, and had barely reached the expiry of a withholding period in which they would have been unfit for consumption following drenching. With 30 years' experience on the property Miller suggests the thieves were "amateurs".

He discovered the remains soon after daybreak. The motherless lambs are being relocated to the farmhouse, but are expected to rejoin the flock of about 1600 breeding ewes which this year produced 1900 lambs.

Although rare in recent times, theft of stock by slaughter on the property has happened before, with council director city services Lance Titter believing there is some deterrence with security patrolling.

There is also the fact the property is "a bit of a community farm", with people passing regularly on walks and cycling nearby.

A complaint of theft has been laid with police.

Police also were understood to be aware of the possible disappearance of 10 in-calf cows from a property in the Crownthorpe area west of Hastings.