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Illegal lamb meat soars by 250%
A recent investigation has revealed that the amount of illegal lamb entering the food chain has increased by 250%.
The Welsh Food Fraud Co-ordination Unit says it is disturbed by its investigations, which range from illegal slaughtering to door-to-door salesman peddling boxes of black market meat.
The investigations come as rural insurer NFU Mutual said it had received claims for more than 60,000 stolen sheep by the end of October - two-and-a-half times more than last year. It had also noticed a rise in cattle, pig and game thefts. The total loss reported by the industry has doubled to more than £5m - and that's only the farmers with insurance.
The rise in livestock theft comes as meat prices soar across the board, but none has increased more than lamb. At the end of November, the price per kilo was 393.6p, 59% more than in 2008 [AHDB].
Very few stolen animals are recovered dead or alive, with the vast majority entering the food chain through unregulated channels.
Rustling reports are also becoming more gruesome. In August, NFU Mutual received its first report of sheep being shot in a field, putting the lives of the farmer and members of the public at risk. There have also been several cases where thieves slaughtered and butchered the animals in the field, leaving just the skin and entrails behind.
In September, more than 1,400 sheep were stolen from a farm near Louth, Lincolnshire - the biggest single incident in 25 years.
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