Pet lamb stolen yet again

A Taratahi farmer has blamed rustlers after his children's pet sheep was stolen last week - for the second year in a row.

The farmer, who did not want to be named for fear of retribution, said Ramsey went missing last Thursday.

Another pet sheep was stolen at the same time last year.

"How do you explain to an eight and nine-year-old what's happened to it?" he said.

The farmer said he has thousands of sheep, and may not have noticed if another animal was taken. But it was the fact that his children's pet had been taken which upset the family.

"What kind of lowlife would flog a kid's pet sheep?" he said.

"It's the same as flogging someone's pet dog."

He said it would not have been much of a challenge for rustlers as Ramsey was at the front of the property by himself.

The lamb also would have walked straight up to the thieves, as it was tame.

The farmer said the lamb used to follow them around the farm and was not aware it was a sheep.

His daughter, 9, said the lamb used to lie down on her and fall asleep, and she cried when she found out her pet was gone.

The farmer had taken security measures to prevent it from happening again, as the rustlers must have been watching him to know when he was out.

He had spoken to neighbours who hadn't seen anything suspicious, and also contacted police but there was little they could do.