Sleaford area small holders suffer second sheep theft in two months

Owners ‎Ian Clark‎ and Bev Ross have been left stunned by the second livestock theft having just begun to rebuild after the loss of a large spring lamb, their prize ram Toby and their favourite bottle-reared ram George just a month ago.

This time all four were lambs born in April. A Kerry HIll ram lamb and three young ewes. They were taken sometime between 11.30am on Tuesday and 10.30am on Wednesday.

Bev said: “We feared they might come back again but you cannot just conjure up good livestock land around here. We hoped with extra vigilance and the publicity of the last theft the thieves might not come back. We have now removed our remaining sheep to a field further away, which makes it less convenient for lambing.”

She said: “When we discovered the theft we looked everywhere, but this time there were tyre tracks at the bottom of the field where they had come through trees from the neighbouring landowner’s field and just taken the sheep.”

The ram has red management tags and the ‘gimmers’ have fresh orange paint marks on the flanks. One of the gimmers is very small and has a dark patch on her neck on the left side.

What is most shattering for the Leasingham couple is that they had just taken the decision to rebuild the flock. Bev said: “We had sat down and decided to buy a new ram and set teh wheels in motion to put it behind us then this happens.

“I don’t know what we will do now, we are both so deflated and stunned by this. It is very hard to take and such a shame as the field was the perfect location.”

She wished to warn other farmers to be extra vigilant and if anyone saw anything or has any suspicions, they should call police on 101.