Agriculture Ministry reassesses security following theft of 60 calves.
By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
The Agriculture Ministry is reassessing its security arrangements after 60 newly-imported calves were stolen from a quarantine site in Haifa one night recently, reports www.local.co.il. The calves, worth a total of about NIS 300,000 - or NIS 5,000 each - were taken from a herd of 1,300 cows that had been imported from Lithuania just four days earlier and was being held in quarantine prior to its eventual distribution to farms around the country.
According to the report, ministry officials say the theft clearly was carried out by experienced and professional thieves. They say the thieves took advantage of the night-time darkness to cut a hole in the fence and lead the animals out to a nearby construction site, where a number of trucks were waiting. A guard stationed some 200 meters away was unaware of the bovine break-in.
A spokesman for the Israeli Cattle Growers' Association (Ambal) said that although great efforts were being made to prevent the phenomenon of cattle thefts, these were proving largely unsuccessful and the number of such thefts was growing. The spokesman said the thieves were becoming more sophisticated and more daring, and it could only be hoped that they would be caught and brought to justice. Police are investigating the incident.
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