Rick Powdrell.
Once again stock theft is in the news. Some scumbags too lazy to rear their own calves wait for an enterprising couple to do the hard yards, then steal 55 of their animals.
This young couple are working multiple jobs as well as rearing calves to get ahead in life.
Rearing calves alone is a time-consuming job, with morning and evening feeding, individual animal attention required to ensure good animal health, plus the necessary cleaning to maintain a healthy environment.
This couple have clear goals on what their future holds - and one just around the corner, their marriage, has now been pushed out into the future.
This theft highlights many of the factors being promoted around New Zealand at the Rural Crime Prevention Workshops, which are supported by insurer FMG, the New Zealand Police and Federated Farmers.
When speaking at these workshops my number one point about getting on top of rural theft is the need to report all crime and suspicious activity.
In this case, the couple reported the crime immediately. A neighbour came forward soon after with information regarding vehicle movements in the area.
I would imagine that neighbour is now wishing they had reported what they saw in the early hours of the morning to the owner or police at that time.
It highlights that if you see something out of the normal, something that looks dodgy, it so often will be dodgy.
A myth that needs to be corrected is that police are not interested in suspicious activity.
Police do want to know; don't hesitate to call 111. So often the suspicious reports either fill a gap in an investigation or help paint a picture of offenders' movements.
To their credit the neighbour did note what they viewed, the time, and reacted instantly to supply the information on hearing of the crime.
This information has provided police with strong leads in their search for these parasites.
This neighbourly act highlights my third point, which is the importance of having rural support groups, neighbours looking out for neighbours, talking about the issues in their local patch.
Neighbourhood Support New Zealand can assist rural residents to form a group while the police are willing to visit groups and discuss the issues.
By now you will be wondering what point two is. It's to implement all practical security measures on your farm.
That will vary as no two properties are alike and there are a multitude of security measures available.
Some basic measures apply to most properties: Keep road gates closed where possible, lock them if intruder risk is high; locking storage sheds and good lighting are all good starting points.
For this young couple we hope other people may have witnessed the vehicles involved, or noticed calves fitting the description somewhere, so that these scumbags are apprehended and the much-loved calves returned.