Armed cattle-rustlers steal tainted meat

Gun-wielding cattle-rustlers shooting and butchering animals near Rotorua have sparked a warning from farmers - the meat they are stealing could be deadly.
Farmers Murray Jansen and Wendy Harper have both had cows slaughtered and stolen from their Rerewhakaaitu properties this week.
Police confirm there has been a spate of similar thefts in the area with reports of two bulls stolen in Murupara and various cases of sheep thefts.
Anyone who eats the meat could unwittingly be placing themselves at great risk.
The cows are currently in a "meat withholding" phase and their udders have been injected with long-acting doses of penicillin to prevent mastitus, or inflammation of the mammary gland, during the winter months.
Those eating the meat could be putting their health in danger, particularly if they have a proven allergy to penicillin.
"I hope they choke on it," Mrs Harper said. "I hope the chemicals that we have used with them make you sick."
Mr Jansen had one of his $2500 Friesian cows taken in a brazen theft on Monday night.
The thieves travelled 1.7km across Mr Jansen's 250ha farm to a herd of 150 cows. The thieves took the head and body of the 2-year-old cow labelled as "200kg of prime meat".
"I can't believe the audacity of someone coming onto a farm and killing a beast and then leaving just the offal and the feet. They didn't even leave the head so I could [identify] it, because the ear was tagged," the Onuku Maori Lands Trust sharemilker said.

Mrs Harper said a 4-year-old cross-bred Friesian was shot, decapitated and slaughtered on her property, also on Monday night.
The thieves threw the body of the cow over a fence after moving a nearby steel drum to use as a step, leaving the animal's head on the ground.
During the raid, the thieves ran a knife over another cow's face, making it blind in one eye - something Rotorua SPCA manager Nicola Martin said would have produced "extreme pain" for the animal.
"You just have to think about what it would be like for a human to have a knife run over their eye. It would be as painful for a cow as what it would be for a human."
Reporoa Community Constable Jude Clifton said police would continue to investigate the spike in farm thefts.
"It seems to have mainly occurred in the past two to three weeks. It is upsetting and the fact that the cattle are being shot means [the thieves] are carrying firearms with them which is worrying."
Mrs Clifton urged farmers to report all instances of stock theft, to enable police to establish possible links between the cases.
She also encouraged the public to report any suspicious activity around farmland.
Mr Jansen, a sharemilker for 20 years, told The Daily Post the way in which the theft was carried out suggested the act was premeditated and the perpertrators knew what they were doing.
"It was very well-butchered and we can tell that from the cut marks on the feet," he said.
The invasion has left Mr Jansen wondering what else he can do to prevent theft like this from occurring on his farm, despite having lockable gates.
"I just kind of feel like I don't know how much more security we can get [on the farm].
"It does make you feel a bit vulnerable."