Christmas heartache for farmers as livestock become targets
Published:Thursday | December 15, 2022 | 12:33 AMRasbert Turner/Gleaner Writer
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When 61-year-old Mavette Johnson got word that the St Catherine North police had nabbed a man transporting five goats in a motorcar on Monday, she felt a sense of justice. Johnson, who lives in Angels, St Catherine, where the quick-response team...
When 61-year-old Mavette Johnson got word that the St Catherine North police had nabbed a man transporting five goats in a motorcar on Monday, she felt a sense of justice.
Johnson, who lives in Angels, St Catherine, where the quick-response team intercepted the vehicle, has herself been the victim of prowling praedial larcenists. The toll: $20,000.
The risk escalates with Christmas drawing nearer as the price of chevon, or goat meat, spiking because of rising demand.
Johnson entered the industry because of sliding revenues from a shop she operates.
“I am very pleased that the police have caught di tief dem,” Johnson told The Gleaner. “I have started to raise goats as sometimes the little shop not turning over, ... but it is getting risky, especially at this time of the year.”
Michael Blake of Gutters in Old Harbour, also in St Catherine, has relied exclusively on goat farming to earn a living after being laid off the job several years ago.
He considered abandoning livestock rearing after being targeted by thieves, who plundered nine goats, including seven rams.
Blake and Johnson are among hundreds of farmers islandwide who live in fear as praedial larceny is one of their biggest hurdles. Farm theft costs stakeholders an estimated $6 billion per year, sapping optimism because arrests and prosecutions pale in comparison to the prevalence of the problem.
But despite his misfortune, Blake still credits agriculture for sustaining his family.
“The business gets a little better for me as I am able to send my children to school and even buy a little pickup to mobilise the grass to feed them,” Blake said in a Gleaner interview. “When I started in 2010, very few people was in it.”
He said that he now operates the business like a camp.
“With goat meat selling for $1,500 per pound, me work with lock and key, so by 5 p.m., dem inside the pen. During dem time a year, dem mostly at home. This presents less risk,” the 54-year-old former factory worker said.
Police Sergeant Kenneth McTavish described the scourge in Guy’s Hill as rampant.
“We are working very hard, especially at this time, to curtail this illegal activity,” McTavish said.
His views echo the concerns of Superintendent Derrick Champagnie, who said that the praedial larceny team is being strengthened to address the issue.
The Corporate Communications Unit reported that about 3:30 p.m. on December 12, a police party intercepted a motorcar in Angels Farm, Spanish Town.
When the vehicle stopped, two men managed to escape in the area. The driver of the vehicle was held on suspicion of larceny.
The St Catherine North police are urging members of the public who may have had their goats stolen to contact the Spanish Town Police Station at 876-984-2305.
In addition, the police are urging persons to purchase meat from legitimate vendors in the lead-up to the Yuletide season and to report any suspicious activity to 119 or the nearest police station.