EDITORIAL : Let’s crush the livestock cartel

OVER the years, the acquisition of livestock has been known to be a symbol of wealth in this country.

In most African societies, the value of livestock, as a measure of wealth, still stands and has never depreciated.

Instead, it keeps on appreciating.

Known as a simple means of wealth, many farmers have ventured into livestock farming.

The groups of animals most local farmers prefer to breed include cattle, sheep, pigs and goats.

In Zimbabwe, goat-rearing and cattle ranching are now popular with most farmers.

Piggery and sheep rearing have also become popular with local farmers. Livestock farming, which is known for its economic benefits, comes with its own challenges.

A number of thieves have been preying on livestock farmers.

This has led to the offenders being slapped with lengthy custodial sentences.

All these efforts are meant to send a strong message to would-be offenders. Despite livestock thieves being sent to jail, many remain in this dark game and are causing quite a lot of damage.

However, this has not deterred the police from bringing these culprits to book. Yesterday, we carried a story about a goat farmer, from Siyakobvu, who lost his livestock.

Reports say some police officers deployed at Waterfalls Police Station spent the greater part of Sunday tending to 98 goats, which had been recovered from the stolen loot.

Police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, confirmed the arrest of four suspects.

The suspects are said to have already found a ready market before their luck finally ran out.

Some have been calling for the suspected thieves to be handed lengthy sentences once found guilty.

While the farmer is now relieved, we should never forget the cost of livestock farming, which comes with costs. The trauma of losing their goats to thieves was obviously hard to take. As such, livestock thieves deserve to be severely punished, since it can be labour intensive to breed such animals. The costs of vaccinating these animals is also high.

The hard work, sacrifice and all the investment they put into rearing these animals, is huge.

At times they don’t recover the costs when these animals get attacked by various diseases.

This calls for police chiefs to intensify campaigns against such offenders, especially those who continue to be on the loose.

It’s hard to lose something you value in life and livestock is one such a treasure. 

Livestock farmers invest a lot in breeding such animals, vaccination and, of course, trying to guarantee the security of the animals.

The stock feed comes with huge costs. This requires livestock to either apply for loans or dig deep from their pockets.

And, losing these animals to thieves is a major setback since it’s hard to recover the cost.

Such offenders deserve to be punished and give relief to farmers, who go out of their way, breeding their livestock.