Farmer offers reward for information about stolen sheep
A picture of the Cheviot ewes with their distinctive spray tags that have gone missing from Mount Leinster
A MOUNT LEINSTER sheep farmer is offering a reward for information as to the whereabouts of 25 Cheviot ewes that have gone missing from Blackstairs Mountains. The sheep have been missing from Mount Leinster since 1 October last and despite exhaustive searches fears are growing that the animals may have been stolen.
Thei owner, prize-winning sheep farmer Tomás McCarthy, has offered a €2,000 reward for information as to the whereabouts of his livestock, promising “total confidentially” about any information received.
The 25 Cheviot ewes are described as having the initials ‘TC’ in blue spray on them along with a blue raddle down their tails. The Cheviots also have three-quarter length tails, which would be longer than most other sheep.
Tomás has posted pictures and descriptions of the three- to four-year-old Cheviot ewes online and has asked farmers to watch out for them. Tomás lives around three miles from where the sheep are kept grazing on the mountain but checks in regularly and is up the mountain every week.
“Good Cheviot ewes are making about €250 a head this year, cast ewes are making around €200, so it’s a big money loss,” Tomás said. “But at this stage it’s not about money. I’m more concerned about the rest of my sheep; I’m thinking ‘when is it going to stop’ and always keeping an eye.
“I spent the last few weeks looking; I checked all over the land and they are definitely not dead on it,” he added.
Tomás said that his neighbour is also missing four or five sheep and said that he believes the sheep “may have been stolen”.
“I have been in touch with all the hill farmers around the area and we will have to set up a group to keep an eye on the hills, because it’s an ongoing issue.
“They may have been taken, but I don’t know how anyone would stop sheep being taken, whether it’s on high ground or low ground, because tags don’t make any difference. If you bring in those ewes, cut out their tags and shear them, then who is to say who owns them?” said Tomas.
The incident has been reported to gardaí.
