DUBLIN: More than 10,000 Northern Irish cattle have been reported stolen or lost in just three years – with cross-border smuggling thought to be one of the main causes.
Cattle smuggling is still endemic across many of the border areas, with one in three animals reported missing coming from Newry and Armagh, according to figures revealed by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann said that 10,000 cattle had been reported stolen or lost over the last three years; with the figures by far the highest in border areas.
“I am sick of hearing reports of quality cattle being lifted, often under the cover of darkness, by criminals who deserve to be locked up rather than prowling the countryside thinking they have the right to take whatever they like.
“Many of the people behind the thefts are part of wider criminal gangs. Once the cattle are stolen their identification is quickly changed before they are later smuggled into factories in the Irish Republic.
“The figures that have recently been uncovered by my office paint a bleak but unsurprising picture.
