Published at 21:36, Wednesday, 06 June 2012

AFTER the recent theft of sheep and lambs in the Borders, NFU Scotland is warning farmers to keep spare and replacement sheep tags secure.

These crucial identifiers could help criminals hide their tracks if they are handling stolen livestock.

After a significant number of sheep and lambs went missing, presumed stolen, in a single incident near Coldingham, the union has highlighted the fact that animals would need to be retagged to have any value. This could mean that tags are being stolen from other farms.

Anyone trading livestock should be alert for batches of sheep and lambs from unusual sources and with a mixture of tag numbers or tag types.

President Nigel Miller said: “Taking tags from a separate farm from the stolen livestock would demonstrate a high level of organisation and farmers should make sure any spare tags are stored securely.”

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