Rustlers take shots through farm fence

LUCKY ESCAPE: This sheep survived a bullet wound in its neck while others were killed and removed from a Maxwell farm.PHOTO/ SUPPLIED

Sheep rustlers have been at work on a Maxwell property and farm manager Russell Addenbrook says the incidents have been reported to the police but he would like people in the area to be on the lookout.

"Several sheep have been shot and removed from the property with their entrails left behind, and one sheep had been shot through the neck and left alive," he said.

Mr Addenbrook said the farm lambs had been moved to the smaller roadside paddock while he had been spraying for aphids in the main paddock, and the thieves had been shooting them through the fence.

Whanganui police Senior Sergeant Andrew McDonald said unfortunately stock thefts were a seasonal problem and he encouraged people to be vigilant.

"Not to belittle this latest incident, but we do see a lot of it around this time of year. We ask people in the rural farming area to be on the lookout for strange vehicles and take down registration numbers.

"That will be a big help to us in apprehending the culprits."

Mr Addenbrook said the thefts on the Station Rd farm at Maxwell had not been the only ones in the area and he had heard of a man trying to steal sheep in broad daylight.

"I was told that there was a guy with a dog trying to muster some lambs that got through a broken fence on a neighbour's property. I shot round there, but he had gone when I arrived."

Mr Addenbrook said cameras had been installed around the Maxwell farm so that any unusual activity would now be recorded.