Gardaí have launched an investigation following the theft of eight calves from an organic farm in the Drum area of Co. Roscommon last Thursday night (April 28).
The Hereford cross and Aberdeen Angus calves which were all between four and five months old, were tagged, and were being reared by Padraig Molloy and his family to be sold on to dairy farmers next year. In a statement, An Garda Síochána said:
“Gardaí are investigating the theft of livestock from farmland in Drum, Co. Roscommon on the April 28, 2022. Eight male calves were removed from farmland overnight. Enquires are ongoing.”
Speaking to Agriland, Molloy said he believes the calves were stolen by a farmer due to the location they were kept in and the know-how that would have been necessary to take them. He said:
“The house is a long way off a main road and it’s at the end of a cul de sac. Whoever did it had to know the location, drive all the way down, open the gate which we had rocks in front of, call the calves into the shed, reverse down into it and load them.”
Molloy said he and his family are all very shaken up by it and cannot understand why someone would do this.
“Whatever about your tractor or trailer being stolen, you could blame that on some opportunist, but this was within the farming community, and that’s what hurts,” he added.
“It beggar’s belief, it will knock us back a bit but we’ll keep going.”
The Molloys operate a small, organic enterprise and buy between eight and 10 calves each year which they bucket rear and sell on at a year-and-a-half old.
However, the entirety of Molloy’s herd is now gone and he said there will be no more calves for them this year as “the funds are not there”.
One of Molloy’s calves was being treated for ringworm on its eye at the time of the theft, and he is hoping that this may prompt someone to notice any suspicious procurement of calves.
