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Telegraph
11-03-2025
- Telegraph
The sheep-theft epicentre where farmers are losing £500,000 of livestock
On the rugged moorland of Dartmoor Common, hill farmer Colin Abel, 57, stands in the bright spring sunshine with his collie Pixie, surveying his land. Just east of Tavistock, Devon, it is a breathtaking view: a valley of undulating green fields dotted with sheep and ponies giving way to rugged moorland above. As the highest upland in southern Britain, and part of Dartmoor National Park, the common is known for its open landscape and rocky granite outcrops. It is also where Abel grazes his 4,500 sheep for nine months of the year. Yet the picturesque scene is being blighted by an increasingly pressing and thorny crime: that of sheep rustling. For hill farmers across the UK, such theft is nothing new. But the South West – and notably the remote landscape of Dartmoor – is becoming a growing epicentre of the illegal activity. Figures from the UK livestock crime unit show that roughly 10 per cent (or 1,300) of all sheep stolen in 2024 were from Devon and Cornwall, with 62 per cent of these thefts from west Dartmoor. Meanwhile, rural insurer NFU Mutual estimates that livestock theft cost £2.7 million in 2023 – a similar figure to that of 2022, demonstrating, it says, that this is a 'persistent problem'. For Abel, the impact on his flock is an alarming concern, not least because it comes on top of existing pressures on farmers to meet green targets and potentially stump up inheritance tax. Last year, his Lower Godsworthy farm, which has been in the family since 1888, had 450 ewes stolen from them. 'We did a stocktake in November and I'd lost 10 per cent, many of them pregnant ewes,' he tells The Telegraph. 'It's devastating, a huge mental strain – and the trend is getting worse. A few years ago, I lost 600, but a decade or so ago, I was losing roughly 250. 'I think over the past decade, I have lost around £500,000 worth of livestock. This is on top of the cost of feeding them, which can be £100 a week per sheep for my whole 4,500 flock. Any losses are not covered by insurance, due to the inhibitive cost of premiums. So to keep losing stock in such numbers is unsustainable.' Abel is one of 850 farmers who have ancient rights to graze their livestock on the 88,500-acre common. He grazes a mix of Welsh mountain sheep and Scotch Blackface specifically chosen to cope with the upland terrain and diseases caused by ticks, making any thefts particularly hard to take as they affect the genetic bloodline. Abel keeps an artificially high number of breeding ewes on his land to accommodate such losses; otherwise, he would have to import sheep from elsewhere, which would not be used to the upland terrain. But despite his efforts to protect his bloodlines, he is well aware that the remote, unguarded landscape is easy prey for criminals. The upland landscape where the sheep graze is completely wild and away from human settlements. Around 34,000 people live in the National Park but that's mostly in the towns and villages dotted around. Much of the Park is peatland or bogs; at times, cattle get swallowed up. Police believe the sheep are rounded up with dogs and quad bikes at nighttime into vans, or even taken in broad daylight by people involved in the livestock industry who have knowledge of how to move and process sheep. On rare occasions, ewes have been known to be slaughtered on-site, but more often, young lambs are taken. One hypothesis is that the lambs have their ear tags swapped and are then 'reidentified' into another farmer's flock, although there have been no prosecutions for this. Martin Beck, appointed in 2024 as the UK's first national livestock theft specialist police officer, tells The Telegraph: 'Of all the livestock that is stolen, 70 per cent is sheep, and half of that is lambs. This is a national problem, affecting not just Devon but also Cumbria and parts of Wales – anywhere with high sheep stock – and it is ingrained in the livestock community. 'We often do not know who is doing it, but we know it must be someone who can catch, process and make money from the crime, and it is more than just theft. These animals may be illegally slaughtered, with their disease and medicine status unknown, making this a national food security issue.' For PC Julian Fry, of Devon and Cornwall Police's Rural Affairs Team, the thefts on Dartmoor are a continuing menace, exacerbated by the fact that there are currently limited effective tracking devices for livestock. For instance, satellite tracking collars can be placed upon animals, but these are often very expensive, visible to thieves and easily removed. Microchips such as those often used in cats and dogs are not recommended for animals destined for the food chain. Despite there having been no prosecutions for sheep theft in the past five years in Devon and Cornwall, he insists his teams are constantly working on how to improve forensics, tracking and surveillance to help target the criminals. 'We have four rural police officers for Devon and Cornwall and we all have a huge amount of passion and drive to support farmers,' he says.'These crimes can be hard to tackle; there is no CCTV and often they are only reported retrospectively. But we are constantly looking at cutting-edge forensics and technology to catch the culprits. 'We are working with abattoirs, commoners and farmers and we are constantly building intelligence. I am convinced that soon, we will have convictions. The day will come when livestock crime is a thing of the past.' Seven miles from Lower Godsworthy farm, sheep rustling has also blighted the work of farmer Neil Cole, 53, who grazes a flock of Scotch Blackface sheep on the moor. 'It's not just the ewes that get stolen, but cattle and lamb too,' he says. 'Last year, we turned out 220 lambs and got around 160 back due to losses and theft. For someone to steal 50 of them at £150 a lamb is soul-destroying. It's more than £7,000.' Cole says that while it wasn't his worst year for theft, the general trend is magnifying, he believes because of the rising value of sheep and cattle. Last year saw record-high prices of lamb, driven by a continued decline in the female breeding flock, a reduced lamb crop and high demand at certain times such as Christmas and Ramadan. Despite this, Cole says many younger farmers in the region are not seeing a future in farming the moor. 'There are so many pressures,' he says. 'Cars, dogs, disturbances, the pressure from environmentalists, theft. People dumped a load of laurel on the moor recently – and that's poisonous to animals. All these combining pressures mean youngsters and tenant farmers look at the bottom line and decide it's just not worth it. 'And the fact people doing the thieving must have industry knowledge of how to handle sheep is causing division in the community.' For many of the moor's upland farmers, the problems caused by sheep rustling are the tip of the iceberg. For years now, they have been under pressure to reduce stock because of environmental concerns; indeed, over the past two decades, Abel alone has reduced his stock by 50 per cent. 'Some environmentalists want sheep off the land completely,' he adds. 'Already we bring our cattle off the hill all winter. But although our enclosed farm is 2,000 acres, this isn't enough for the sheep; they need the common. And if sheep didn't graze the moor, it would probably catch fire every year.' Currently, Dartmoor National Park – in large part a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and home to cuckoos and rare ground-nesting birds such as lapwings – is undergoing a review of how the land should best be managed to meet its competing demands. A 2023 report by Natural England – the government's nature watchdog – said parts of the park were worryingly overgrazed, with the ecological condition of Dartmoor having 'declined significantly'. Some 93 per cent of the park's SSSIs are currently classed as being in an 'unfavourable ecological condition'. Highlighting that the current approach was 'not working', the report stressed that year-round intensive grazing had been introduced only after the Second World War and that grazing numbers needed to be slashed. It also pointed out that farming on Dartmoor was 'economically extremely marginal' – and viable only through the income from governmental agri-environmental schemes. For Richard Drysdale, the director of conservation and communities at Dartmoor National Park Authority, the farmers who manage the land are acutely aware of the pressures upon them. 'Dartmoor is a contested landscape,' he tells The Telegraph. 'There are free-roaming sheep, ponies and cattle, and farmers are facing ever-increasing costs to manage their stock and land over huge areas, and then deal with the pressure of these increasingly brazen thefts.' In addition to supporting the farming community, he says the park is dealing with the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, and is working with farmers and other partners to restore peatlands and increase tree cover. There has also been an increase in housing in the local area, a growing number of visitors to the park, and a rise in the number of dog attacks on livestock. He adds: 'Dartmoor has more pressures and threats than ever before, and the hill-farming community is central in helping address those. Dartmoor is an incredible landscape – the largest wilderness in southern England – and we have to work together to protect it.' Back at Lower Godsworthy farm, it is this rugged wilderness that has captured the heart of Abel's farming daughter, Megan Abel-Lethbridge. Aged just 27, she works full time on the land, and is mostly seen driving the tractor and bedding up the cattle. Soon, the farm will be passed into her ownership in an attempt by her father to circumvent Chancellor Rachel Reeves's plans to impose 20 per cent inheritance tax on agricultural assets worth more than £1 million. On the day The Telegraph visits the farm, she is out on her quad bike, checking on the cattle in their pens before heading up to the moor to see her flock. 'There's not many women in Dartmoor farming as it's so physical,' she says. 'But I am committed to taking it over. I love the work, especially at lambing and calving time, and being up on the moor is just breathtaking.' What does she think of the insidious crime of sheep rustling? 'Farming is such hard work,' she says. 'And there are enough barriers in this industry already. We are just trying to make a living and feed the nation. It's criminal.'
Telegraph
28-02-2025
- Telegraph
Dartmoor becomes sheep rustling ‘Wild West'
Dartmoor has become the 'Wild West' of sheep rustling in England, with farmers losing hundreds of ewes each year, it has been claimed. Many farmers are said to be considering quitting the profession or bringing their flocks off the moors in Devon, where livestock has roamed for centuries, because rising thefts are costing them thousands of pounds. Colin Abel said more than 400 of his ewes had disappeared this winter and estimated he has lost nearly £500,000 worth of livestock from his west Dartmoor farmland over the past decade. He told the BBC: 'It's beginning to feel like the Wild West up here when it comes to sheep crime – it's soul-destroying.' The national park is among the five worst areas in the country for sheep rustling. Last year more than 1,300 sheep were reported stolen in Devon and Cornwall. Nearly 800 of the thefts – or 62 per cent – happened in west Dartmoor. Stolen sheep can end up in other farmers' flocks, sold on the black market or illegally slaughtered in uncontrolled conditions before entering the food chain. Mr Abel's family has run Lower Godsworthy Farm in Tavistock since 1888. He keeps his flock of Scotch Blackface and Welsh mountain sheep on the moor for nine-and-a-half months of the year. However, the remote landscape of forests, rivers and wetlands makes them hard to keep an eye on and vulnerable to theft. He said: 'It impacts financially and on the viability of the business. I know farmers who are thinking about whether they want to continue.' Just seven miles east across the moor in Princetown, Neil Cole claims to have lost £7,000 in just one year after thieves targeted his flock of Scottish Blackface sheep. He said: 'We turn out 220 lambs expecting to get 160 back – at £150 a lamb we're in the lap of the gods until we gather.' Mr Cole added: 'The economics of keeping sheep on the moor is becoming harder and harder, so the younger generation aren't taking it on as much. I've heard farmers say they are ready to give up ... the sheep are important for the ecology of the moor. 'It's not the sort of thing you can steal if you don't have the knowledge. It is causing divisions in the community.' Martin Beck, who was appointed in 2024 as the UK's first national livestock theft specialist police officer, said that tracking stolen sheep was challenging. In the last five years, there have been no prosecutions for sheep theft in Devon and Cornwall. Mr Beck, who is based in Devon, called for 'more investment and training in rural policing and technology' to help tackle the issue. Some farmers have turned to technology like satellite trackers and digital ear tags to deter thieves, but for many such costs are unaffordable alongside the existing financial challenges of farming.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Yahoo
Dartmoor becomes sheep rustling ‘Wild West'
Dartmoor has become the 'Wild West' of sheep rustling in England, with farmers losing hundreds of ewes each year, it has been claimed. Many farmers are said to be considering quitting the profession or bringing their flocks off the moors in Devon, where livestock has roamed for centuries, because rising thefts are costing them thousands of pounds. Colin Abel said more than 400 of his ewes had disappeared this winter and estimated he has lost nearly £500,000 worth of livestock from his west Dartmoor farmland over the past decade. He told the BBC: 'It's beginning to feel like the Wild West up here when it comes to sheep crime – it's soul-destroying.' The national park is among the five worst areas in the country for sheep rustling. Last year more than 1,300 sheep were reported stolen in Devon and Cornwall. Nearly 800 of the thefts – or 62 per cent – happened in west Dartmoor. Stolen sheep can end up in other farmers' flocks, sold on the black market or illegally slaughtered in uncontrolled conditions before entering the food chain. Mr Abel's family has run Lower Godsworthy Farm in Tavistock since 1888. He keeps his flock of Scotch Blackface and Welsh mountain sheep on the moor for nine-and-a-half months of the year. However, the remote landscape of forests, rivers and wetlands makes them hard to keep an eye on and vulnerable to theft. He said: 'It impacts financially and on the viability of the business. I know farmers who are thinking about whether they want to continue.' Just seven miles east across the moor in Princetown, Neil Cole claims to have lost £7,000 in just one year after thieves targeted his flock of Scottish Blackface sheep. He said: 'We turn out 220 lambs expecting to get 160 back – at £150 a lamb we're in the lap of the gods until we gather.' Mr Cole added: 'The economics of keeping sheep on the moor is becoming harder and harder, so the younger generation aren't taking it on as much. I've heard farmers say they are ready to give up ... the sheep are important for the ecology of the moor. 'It's not the sort of thing you can steal if you don't have the knowledge. It is causing divisions in the community.' Martin Beck, who was appointed in 2024 as the UK's first national livestock theft specialist police officer, said that tracking stolen sheep was challenging. In the last five years, there have been no prosecutions for sheep theft in Devon and Cornwall. Mr Beck, who is based in Devon, called for 'more investment and training in rural policing and technology' to help tackle the issue. Some farmers have turned to technology like satellite trackers and digital ear tags to deter thieves, but for many such costs are unaffordable alongside the existing financial challenges of farming. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Yahoo
'I've lost 4,500 sheep to thieves on Dartmoor'
"It's beginning to feel like the Wild West up here when it comes to sheep crime - it's soul-destroying," says farmer Colin Abel, scanning his flock high up on west Dartmoor farmland. This winter - like most years - Mr Abel is missing more than 400 ewes. He says in the last decade he has lost nearly £500,000 worth of livestock to sheep rustling, which is pushing some farmers to the brink of quitting or bringing their flocks off the moors. Devon and Cornwall Police says livestock theft is challenging to police but its officers are "pursuing every line of inquiry" through "forensics, surveillance, tracking and more". Sheep have grazed on Dartmoor in Devon for centuries but roaming free, they are hard to keep an eye on and the national park is among the five worst areas in the country for sheep rustling. Mr Abel's family has run Lower Godsworthy Farm in Tavistock since 1888. He estimates more than 4,500 sheep have gone missing in the last decade and with each ewe worth roughly £120, that is more than £500,000 worth of livestock, he says. His hardy upland flock of Scotch Blackface and Welsh mountain sheep spend nine-and-a-half months of the year on the moor, where they are most vulnerable to theft. "It impacts financially and on the viability of the business," he says. "I know farmers who are thinking about whether they want to continue." Dartmoor's remote landscape makes livestock vulnerable to theft, while also making it challenging to police. Martin Beck, who was appointed in 2024 as the UK's first national livestock theft specialist police officer, says more than 1,300 sheep were reported stolen in Devon and Cornwall in 2024. Of those, nearly 800 reports - or 62% - related to west Dartmoor. According to Mr Beck, more than 10,000 sheep were reported stolen in the UK in 2024, meaning more than 10% of logged thefts were in this region. Tracking stolen sheep is challenging, he says, adding they can end up on the illegal meat market, in other farmers' flocks, or being sold on the black market, online or at markets. With ear tags easily removed by criminals, the animals' disease and medicine status are unknown - creating a risk to consumers if they end up in the food chain. They could also be illegally slaughtered in uncontrolled conditions, he says. Mr Beck, who is based in Devon, has called for "more investment and training in rural policing and technology" to address the issue. There have been no prosecutions for sheep theft in the last five years for Devon and Cornwall. The challenge is complicated by the suspected involvement of people from the farming industry, says PC Julian Fry from Devon and Cornwall Police's Rural Affairs Team. "The tragedy of this situation is that to steal livestock you have to know livestock and have the networks to shift them on." PC Fry, who grew up on the edge of Dartmoor and knows the farming community well, says despite the challenges, officers are working with abattoirs, commoners and farmers to build intelligence and employ "lots of tactical options". "Any report of livestock theft we take seriously, investigate and pursue all lines of inquiry," he adds. "We hope to make this crime a thing of the past." Rural insurer NFU Mutual estimates livestock theft cost £2.7m in 2023, although Mr Abel says he quit reporting his losses to avoid higher premiums. Seven miles east across the moor, dense fog descends as farmer Neil Cole leads the way across a pen at his farm in Princetown. As he glances through the gloom at his huddle of shuffling and bleating Scottish Blackface sheep, he says: "Imagine you are creating a piece of art and someone sticks their finger nails through it, that's what it's like breeding good sheep for generations and trying to do it well – for someone to nick 50 of them is soul-destroying, all that profit gone. "It does affect our mental health. "We turn out 220 lambs expecting to get 160 back - at £150 a lamb we're in the lap of the gods until we gather." Mr Cole says they lost £7,000 to theft this year, amid existing financial challenges including mortgages and debts. A report on Dartmoor by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) describes farming on Dartmoor as "economically extremely marginal". Mr Cole adds: "The economics of keeping sheep on the moor is becoming harder and harder so the younger generation aren't taking it on as much. "I've heard farmers say they are ready to give up and the sheep are important for the ecology of the moor. "It's not the sort of thing you can steal if you don't have the knowledge. It is causing divisions in the community." Mr Abel has trialled satellite trackers from a firm called No Fence on 20 of his sheep. But at £199 per device plus a monthly subscription, he says it is prohibitively expensive to extend the measure to the rest of his 4,500-strong flock. "The cost needs to come down so it's more practical to stick on the numbers of sheep that graze the commons but it is a step in the right direction," he says. The firm says it aims to "drive down" the price of collars in future. Other advanced technology systems are also being developed and industry and policing leads hope they could provide a future solution to livestock theft. Australian firm Ceres Tag uses AI machine learning and satellite communications to track sheep with digital ear tags. "We detect immediately if there's very high activity, so we know that the theft is taking place, and then when they leave the property, we are able to track them to their final destination," says CEO David Smith. "It's very difficult in a flock of sheep to remove the tag because there's so many of them... Even if (thieves) did remove the tag, which is highly unlikely, it's already too late - we've already recorded the thieves stealing the animals." Mr Smith says the price of the tech will come down as it is adopted more widely. Police are also using forensics to track stolen sheep, while Cumbrian sheep and beef farmer Pip Simpson has trialled coded microdots on the sheep's fleece to brand his sheep. Mr Simpson, based near Windermere in the Lake District, tells the BBC: "I think the answer does lie in technology - what I'd like to see is ultimately a GPS tracker like a microchip in a dog so you can ringfence where it's at and receive a text when it gets stolen." Back on the moor, where sheep have grazed and shaped the land for more than 6,000 years, Mr Abel hopes a high-tech solution to this ancient crime can be found soon. "We all know that things are stretched and budgets are tight but we need more to be done - it's affecting a whole community, and it could start to impact Dartmoor itself," he says. Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@ Sheep horns painted green as thefts rise Hunt for Dartmoor sheep thieves Police appeal after lambs stolen from Devon field Farmers stage beach rally over inheritance tax Rural crime - Devon and Cornwall Police National Rural Crime Network
BBC News
28-02-2025
- BBC News
'I've lost 4,500 sheep to thieves on Dartmoor'
"It's beginning to feel like the Wild West up here when it comes to sheep crime - it's soul-destroying," says farmer Colin Abel, scanning his flock high up on west Dartmoor farmland. This winter - like most years - Mr Abel is missing more than 400 says in the last decade he has lost nearly £500,000 worth of livestock to sheep rustling, which is pushing some farmers to the brink of quitting or bringing their flocks off the and Cornwall Police says livestock theft is challenging to police but its officers are "pursuing every line of inquiry" through "forensics, surveillance, tracking and more". Sheep have grazed on Dartmoor in Devon for centuries but roaming free, they are hard to keep an eye on and the national park is among the five worst areas in the country for sheep rustling. Mr Abel's family has run Lower Godsworthy Farm in Tavistock since 1888. He estimates more than 4,500 sheep have gone missing in the last decade and with each ewe worth roughly £120, that is more than £500,000 worth of livestock, he hardy upland flock of Scotch Blackface and Welsh mountain sheep spend nine-and-a-half months of the year on the moor, where they are most vulnerable to theft."It impacts financially and on the viability of the business," he says. "I know farmers who are thinking about whether they want to continue." Dartmoor's remote landscape makes livestock vulnerable to theft, while also making it challenging to Beck, who was appointed in 2024 as the UK's first national livestock theft specialist police officer, says more than 1,300 sheep were reported stolen in Devon and Cornwall in 2024. Of those, nearly 800 reports - or 62% - related to west Dartmoor. According to Mr Beck, more than 10,000 sheep were reported stolen in the UK in 2024, meaning more than 10% of logged thefts were in this region. Tracking stolen sheep is challenging, he says, adding they can end up on the illegal meat market, in other farmers' flocks, or being sold on the black market, online or at ear tags easily removed by criminals, the animals' disease and medicine status are unknown - creating a risk to consumers if they end up in the food could also be illegally slaughtered in uncontrolled conditions, he Beck, who is based in Devon, has called for "more investment and training in rural policing and technology" to address the issue. No prosecutions There have been no prosecutions for sheep theft in the last five years for Devon and challenge is complicated by the suspected involvement of people from the farming industry, says PC Julian Fry from Devon and Cornwall Police's Rural Affairs Team."The tragedy of this situation is that to steal livestock you have to know livestock and have the networks to shift them on."PC Fry, who grew up on the edge of Dartmoor and knows the farming community well, says despite the challenges, officers are working with abattoirs, commoners and farmers to build intelligence and employ "lots of tactical options"."Any report of livestock theft we take seriously, investigate and pursue all lines of inquiry," he adds."We hope to make this crime a thing of the past."Rural insurer NFU Mutual estimates livestock theft cost £2.7m in 2023, although Mr Abel says he quit reporting his losses to avoid higher premiums. Seven miles east across the moor, dense fog descends as farmer Neil Cole leads the way across a pen at his farm in he glances through the gloom at his huddle of shuffling and bleating Scottish Blackface sheep, he says: "Imagine you are creating a piece of art and someone sticks their finger nails through it, that's what it's like breeding good sheep for generations and trying to do it well – for someone to nick 50 of them is soul-destroying, all that profit gone."It does affect our mental health."We turn out 220 lambs expecting to get 160 back - at £150 a lamb we're in the lap of the gods until we gather."Mr Cole says they lost £7,000 to theft this year, amid existing financial challenges including mortgages and debts.A report on Dartmoor by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) describes farming on Dartmoor as "economically extremely marginal".Mr Cole adds: "The economics of keeping sheep on the moor is becoming harder and harder so the younger generation aren't taking it on as much."I've heard farmers say they are ready to give up and the sheep are important for the ecology of the moor."It's not the sort of thing you can steal if you don't have the knowledge. It is causing divisions in the community." Mr Abel has trialled satellite trackers from a firm called No Fence on 20 of his at £199 per device plus a monthly subscription, he says it is prohibitively expensive to extend the measure to the rest of his 4,500-strong flock. "The cost needs to come down so it's more practical to stick on the numbers of sheep that graze the commons but it is a step in the right direction," he firm says it aims to "drive down" the price of collars in future. Other advanced technology systems are also being developed and industry and policing leads hope they could provide a future solution to livestock firm Ceres Tag uses AI machine learning and satellite communications to track sheep with digital ear tags."We detect immediately if there's very high activity, so we know that the theft is taking place, and then when they leave the property, we are able to track them to their final destination," says CEO David Smith. "It's very difficult in a flock of sheep to remove the tag because there's so many of them... Even if (thieves) did remove the tag, which is highly unlikely, it's already too late - we've already recorded the thieves stealing the animals."Mr Smith says the price of the tech will come down as it is adopted more widely. 'More to be done' Police are also using forensics to track stolen sheep, while Cumbrian sheep and beef farmer Pip Simpson has trialled coded microdots on the sheep's fleece to brand his sheep. Mr Simpson, based near Windermere in the Lake District, tells the BBC: "I think the answer does lie in technology - what I'd like to see is ultimately a GPS tracker like a microchip in a dog so you can ringfence where it's at and receive a text when it gets stolen." Back on the moor, where sheep have grazed and shaped the land for more than 6,000 years, Mr Abel hopes a high-tech solution to this ancient crime can be found soon."We all know that things are stretched and budgets are tight but we need more to be done - it's affecting a whole community, and it could start to impact Dartmoor itself," he says.
