Farmer asks for community vigilance after sheep taken

Farmer asks for community vigilance after sheep taken


Anton McNulty

A Leenane farmer whose sheep were detagged and dumped nearly 20 miles from his home has called on people in rural isolated areas to be aware of unusual and suspicious activity.
Five sheep – three ewes and two lambs – belonging to farmer Seamus Nee from Bundorragha in the Dephi Valley were discovered recently along the Recess road in the Inagh Valley in Connemara, approximately three weeks after they were taken. One animal is still missing.
The tags had been removed from the three ewes, and the sheep had been wandering in the valley until someone noticed the painted mark on their wool and knew they belonged to Nee.
“They had been dumped along the road and nobody knew whose they were, because I live 15 or 20 miles away. They were only discovered after a man spotted them and knew my mark. I got five of them but I am still missing one. They were on the hill when they were taken. If they had not been spotted I would never have found them,” he told The Mayo News.
The nearest garda stations to Leenane are Louisburgh and Letterfrack, which are not always manned, and often gardaí have to travel from Westport or Clifden. Due to the isolation of the area, Seamus is calling on people in the community to be vigilant of suspicious activity.
“In isolated places neighbours have to be on the ball and not get careless. People have to keep an eye out for suspicious activity, such as trailers operating at night, and contact gardaí if they believe something is not right.
“Last July my brother had a boat taken from his home, and had it not been for a neighbour who saw it and was alert the boat would have been gone. The neighbour asked me if we were doing anything with the boat because two people had taken it. The guards were called and they captured the men as they were going through Lecanvey. If they had gone through Westport we would have never seen the boat again.
“People living in rural areas have to get the message out to be aware of unusual activity in their area,” he warned.