Thieves have forced Norman Goulet to become a shepherd who watches his flock by night.
More than 640 lambs and ewes were stolen from Goulet’s farm near St. Claude, Man., last month. It was the third time sheep bandits struck his farm in less than two years.
The latest theft has prompted Goulet to park a camper on his pasture so that he can keep watch over what remains of his flock. He plans to sleep there until later in October, when it will be time to pull his sheep off pasture.
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“It gets darn depressing,” Goulet said. “Lamb prices have never been as high as this year. Never. If people would stop stealing them, it would benefit us.”
The string of sheep thefts began in the winter of 2004-05, when Goulet lost at least 110 head and his parents lost about 175 head. That was followed by another theft last fall in which Goulet lost close to 1,200 lambs and ewes and thieves made off with about 350 lambs and ewes from his parents’ farm.
He estimated that the sheep stolen from his farm last month were worth at least $75,000. The total value of the sheep stolen during the three heists is approaching $300,000, he said.
Although he insures his livestock, the payments have fallen well short of the value of the animals stolen.
He discovered the latest theft Aug. 4. The thieves had used corral panels to create a makeshift pen for assembling and loading the sheep. It appears barley was used to lure them into the pen.
Goulet believes a stock trailer was used because of tire tracks that were found at the crime scene. Because he does not count his sheep every day, the latest theft might have been carried out over a period of a few nights, he said. He had more than 2,200 sheep on the pasture before the theft occurred.
Goulet is convinced he is being fleeced by the same people because the heists would take a degree of planning and the people involved would have to be, as he puts it, “brave like hell.”
“It’s one thing to steal cars, but to steal livestock, somebody has to know sheep. The other thing is to have a place to send these sheep even before you steal them. You can’t steal these things and sit around on them for weeks or months. It’s got to be the same people. I’m sure of it.”
One of his neighbours noted suspicious vehicle tracks on a hay field in the area before the thefts.
Neighbours also notified police of strange vehicles in the area.
After the latest theft, Goulet received a call from a trucker about a suspicious load of sheep travelling through Ontario. The trucker was able to provide a licence number.
The case remains under investigation, including the tip about the shipment of sheep in Ontario, said RCMP const. Fred Forest. Police are hoping a bulletin can be arranged through Crime Stoppers to help attract information related to the case.
