Queensland police aren't kidding around when they say goat theft is a "significant issue" and have sent a warning to potential thieves after a man was sentenced to two years jail for illegally selling goats.
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The thieves may as well be taking the money directly out of farmers' wallets, according to police, with the responsibility falling upon landowners to verify the goats they buy are not being sold illegally, or face an investigation and potential charges.
Detective Senior Constable Chad Jenkins said taking goats, even if they aren't on private property, is illegal and the perpetrators would then face fraud charges if they tried to sell the animals on.
The only exception applied to landholders who, in certain circumstances, can take goats and sell or domesticate them.
The recent punishment handed down to the male goat thief was suspended for three years after he fraudulently sold wild goats he had taken unlawfully.
Meanwhile, two men were charged last year with a total of more than 100 offences after a six-month investigation into stock thefts in the Dirranbandi, Bollon and Wyandra in southern Queensland.
Of the charges, 27 related to the suspected stealing of stock and 27 were over the fraudulent sale of goats. The same number of charges were also laid over false documents and the entering of false information on movement advice forms.
Rural Major and Organised Crime Squad state co-ordinator Detective Inspector Mick Dowie said the theft of goats, especially those already owned by landholders, would not be tolerated.
"The unlawful taking of rangeland goats is a significant issue and the crime impacts on landholders who can make a legitimate windfall from mustering and selling the goats as they traverse their properties," he said.
"These pastoralists have the expense of maintaining their properties, so for someone to trawl along roads and unlawfully take these goats, they are stealing that windfall and it won’t be tolerated.
"The profits from goat sales is often much needed financial assistance for the local farmers, if they are lucky enough to be able to muster them as they traverse their land.
"People who unlawfully take these goats may as well be taking the money out of their wallets. The penalties imposed reflect the seriousness of this offending."
