ELECTRONIC rumen boluses could help trace stolen sheep and lambs but are not approved by industry or government in Australia, Stock and Land has found.
The stock security shortcomings of current methods of sheep identification in Australia were highlighted recently by the theft of lambs from a Lake Mundi property north-west of Casterton, in western Victoria.
Victoria Police’s Detective Sergeant Steve Brown said the 400 lambs stolen were valued at about $50,000 and had pink visually readable National Livestock Identification System tags in their ears that were easily removed.
He suggested it was very likely the lambs could already have been re-tagged, sold on or processed by now.
“They could be sold to markets or abattoirs, but they would obviously have to be re-ragged and made to appear as though they belong to the thief,” he told The Age.
“They’re very readily marketable. Lambs are absolutely booming at the moment because of the season and they’re at absolutely record prices at the moment and it makes them much more attractive to thieves,” Detective Sergeant Brown said.
The lambs were stolen from a property on the Penola Road about 40 kilometres from the South Australian border, between December 20 and January 21.
Detective Sergeant Brown said the 400 missing lambs would fit into a triple-deck semi-trailer, but could also have been transported in several tandem trailer loads.
He appealed to district landowners to report any unusual transport or lamb activity in the area, and to agents and lamb processors about the sale of lambs in suspicious circumstance to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppers.com.au
The Department of Primary Industries’ Director of Animal Biosecurity and Welfare, Dr Tony Britt, said this week Australia’s National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) was primarily designed to assist with disease control, food safety and market access rather than the prevention of stock theft.
He said electronic NLIS (Sheep) ear tags, which are available for use on a voluntary basis, would facilitate some level of deterrence because if the thief missed one or more tags, such tags would be read in abattoirs with tag readers, and the last owner on the NLIS database would be alerted.
Electronic NLIS (Cattle) ear tags regularly help to identify beasts that are sold but that belong to somebody other than the consigner, Dr Britt said. In the vast majority of cases the cattle have strayed onto another property and are inadvertently sold by the producer responsible for that property.
“It provides a very valuable service for the cattle industry, and in relation to stray sheep an electronic identification system would work in exactly the same way.
“But where sheep have been stolen, you would be relying on a thief to miss one (electronic tag).”
Dr Britt said there had been some discussion about using electronic rumen boluses in sheep, but the boluses were only approved in Australia for use as part of the NLIS (Cattle) system. He agreed boluses could provide another method of ownership traceback if used in sheep in Australia, but that their introduction will not occur unless there was industry consensus to allow this option.
In Europe, rumen boluses are able to be used in sheep and goats, and in Spain are a popular method of identifying these species. To deal with the threat of diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease in European Union countries, in most instance sheep and goats must now be identified with either an electronic ear tag or an electronic rumen bolus. Producers can choose the method that best suits their needs, Dr Britt said.
“The technology is certainly available, but I think that the use of boluses as part of a future electronic NLIS (Sheep) system is unlikely at this point in time” he said.