Sheep farmers in the county are being warned to be on their guard after a number of attacks in which lambs have been slaughtered in fields.
The sickening attacks have happened on farms in Northamptonshire, and now farmers in Leicestershire and Rutland have been put on alert.
In the past 10 days, Northamptonshire Police has received at least five reports of animals being killed and butchered in their fields overnight, including incidents in Crick, Whilton, Kelmarsh and Rushton.
In the latest incident, nine lambs were killed at a farm in Clipston, near Market Harborough.
The incident happened sometime between 9am on Monday, July 15, and 7pm on Tuesday, July 16, when a farm worker noticed that a gate leading to Horseborough Field, in Oxendon Road, had been tampered with.
When police officers attended, they found nine lambs illegally butchered and body parts and innards thrown in a ditch.
More than 130 farmers attended last night a meeting, organised by the National Farmers' Union (NFU) and Northamptonshire Police, about the issue.
Northamptonshire Police’s neighbourhood sergeant Sam Dobbs said: “This is yet another shocking incident for the farming community in Northamptonshire which has left them feeling vulnerable and scared.
“These criminals are not just illegally butchering animals – they are having a serious impact on people’s livelihoods.
“I do want to reassure the farming community that we are taking these incidents very seriously and have a plan in our control room to ensure that any intelligence reported to us is dealt with immediately and suspicious incidents called in are deployed to as a matter of urgency.
“If you see anything suspicious, including the sale or distribution of meat in strange circumstances, please call us and report it. This could be the registration of a van parked in a field gateway, or a report of lights seen in a field at night – every piece of information has value so please get in touch with anything which could help.”
Farmers in Leicestershire were targeted earlier in the year, when lambs were slaughtered.
Farmer Joy Deacon described the slaughter of the pregnant ewes at the family farm in Wibtoft, on the Leicestershire/Warwickshire border, as “heart wrenching” and “sickening”.
Days earlier, smallholder Julie Steele found the dismembered remains of the five pet sheep she had hand-reared from lambs in a field in Gaddesby Lane, Kirby Bellars, near Melton.
The NFU county adviser for Leicstershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland said: “Can everyone please be alert and report any suspicious activity around sheep fields. Please contact the police, myself or Crimestoppers with any information.”
