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| 3 February 2005 |
| Cattle Theft |
| Find out more about the problem of cattle theft. |
KATHY McLEISH: There may be a romantic air around cattle duffing but it can be devastating. ANDREW FREEMAN: There is the rustling; I mean it does sound very sort of exciting I suppose. There has been a bit of history of it in Australia, but I mean the reality is, it's a catastrophic thing, it's very serious for those that are affected and it's something that needs to be stopped. TERRY HANLEY: It's one of the most serious crimes we can have, is actual theft of someone's stock and their livelihood. JAMES FAULKER: It's a tough industry the cattle industry these days so you've really got to be on top of it and to lose cattle is something you really can't afford to be doing. KATHY McLEISH: James Faulkner runs a cattle breeding property at Moogerah, south east of Brisbane in a region recently been hit by a series of stock thefts. This year he and manager Gary Shirlock planned to rebuild the herd as the property recovers from drought. JAMES FAULKNER: When we got the cattle in, in January, there was only 55 cattle there, so we were 21 short. We mustered all the surrounding paddocks more than once, twice in fact, and they never showed up. KATHY McLEISH: That loss cost around $15,000 and the cattle had to be replaced. After a final count, they believe they've had almost 60 head stolen. GARY SHERLOCK: I'd reckon that there'd be close on 30 odd thousand dollars worth. Well, that's one guy's wages for a year anyway. KATHY McLEISH: And that's in one season. GARY SHERLOCK: One season, yeah. KATHY McLEISH: Stolen cattle costs Queensland's industry up to 4 million dollars a year but the risks are immeasurable. Cattle entering the saleyards and meatworks illegally do so with false health declarations and that's a danger to Australia's domestic and international trade. Farmers lobbied hard to get authorities to take it seriously. Detective Senior Sergeant Terry Hanley is the northern region Stock Squad co-ordinator. The Queensland Stock Squad is considered by the industry to be the most effective weapon in the battle to beat thieves. TERRY HANLEY: There's all different means of stealing stock, you can steal them on horseback, or with motorbikes, some people take the modern way of stealing them, ultra lights helicopters, gyrocopters. KATHY McLEISH: It's a specialised field of police work. In one of their biggest cases thousands of head were driven off a property by air millions of dollars literally disappeared. Stock squad officers cover large and remote areas; they understand livestock, the industry and rely on their own footwork. It's the rural version of walking a beat, talking to farmers, saleyard workers, meatworkers, truck drivers. The people who see stock passing through are often the ones who raise the alarm. TERY HANLEY: The tracking and the following of paperwork and if the stock are accurately branded and clearly branded at the end of the day we can locate them and identify them by their registered brands and earmarks. KATHY McLEISH: For James Faulkner, enough is enough. JAMES FAULKNER: It's as bad as stealing money off someone really. You're stealing their livelihood off them, so, it makes life pretty tough. KIRRIN McKECHNIE: Later this month the Stock Squad will be training police in rural areas to help with investigations. |
story notes |
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romantic air She means that it has a feeling of excitement and mystery about it. cattle duffing Cattle duffing is cattle theft. It means stealing cattle. Duffing is stealing farm animals, usually cows or sheep. A duffer is a person who steals animals from farms. But the more common use of duffer is as a slang term for a silly person. Example: You're such a duffer. rustling Rustling is another word for duffing or cattle theft. A rustler is a person who rustles cattle. theft The word theft is a noun meaning the act of stealing something. stock Stock means farmed animals such as horses, sheep or cattle. 21 short This means that they found 21 less then they should have. mustered To muster means to gather together. We can also say to round up.  paddocks A paddock is a field, a fenced patch of land on a larger farm.  head The word head here refers to a single animal, when they're one of a group. So 60 head of cattle just means 60 individual animals. stolen The past participle of the irregular verb steal. more information: steal at the end of the day finally; when everything is taken into account
Example: At the end of the day a decision has to be made. |