Worker shortage may have allowed $1.7m sheep theft to go undetected for months

Critical rural worker shortages may have allowed the disappearance of 5500 sheep worth $1.7 million to go unnoticed for months on an outback Queensland property.

Police believe the dorper ewes and rams were stolen from the Blackall-Isisford Rd property between February and May, but how they were removed remains a mystery.

AgForce Queensland general president Shane McCarthy said the immense size of rural properties, combined with fewer workers checking livestock, could make missing animals difficult to detect.

Detectives from Queensland Police’s Rural and Stock Crime Squad are investigating the disappearance.

McCarthy warned specialist officers appeared to be dealing with an increasing number of thefts involving livestock and other valuable farm property.

“Unfortunately, they seem to be getting more and more incidents of these types of things happening, stock going missing, whether it’s cattle, sheep or goats, and also theft on farms of fuel, machinery, equipment,” he said.

The missing sheep were fitted with white National Livestock Identification System tags, which are designed to help trace animals as they move through the supply chain.

McCarthy said investigator would need to determine whether the flock was taken in a single co-ordinated operation or gradually removed in smaller groups.

He said removing all 5500 sheep at once would have required extensive planning, multiple trucks, and the involvement of several people.

McCarthy said repeatedly taking smaller numbers of sheep over the three months may have been easier to conceal. “A mob that size would take a lot of logistics, a lot of trucks. There’s more than one person involved in that many sheep going missing,” he said.

Investigators want to hear from anyone who noticed suspicious stock movements, livestock transport activity or other unusual behaviour around the property.

“We’ll hopefully find them. They’ll turn up somewhere. Somebody knows something,” McCarthy said.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Rural and Stock Crime Squad at Longreach or Crime Stoppers.