LangleyAdvance
On top of the world pg A28
Your community newspaper since 1931
Friday, March 25, 2011
Your source for breaking news, sports, and entertainment: www.langleyadvance.com
Audited circulation: 41,100 – 40 pages
Agriculture
Lambs, ducks, chickens purloined
Several Langley farms have been broken into recently, their animals stolen.
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by Heather Colpitts
hcolpitts@langleyadvance.com
“Thou shalt not steal.” Thieves who think they have made off with a bounty of Easter lambs overnight Tuesday may find they simply have a bunch of dead babies on their hands, not to mention stealing something to commemorate one of the holiest events on the Christian calendar. Overnight Tuesday, someone broke into Ann Embra’s farm and stole 17 of her 34 lambs. The stolen lambs range in age from five days to one month. They can’t survive very long without the high-fat ewes milk lambs need. “This is my 21st year of lambing and I’ve never had anything like this,” she said of the theft. Embra said the sheep were fed at about 10:30 p.m. and the farm gate was locked. Embra recalls hearing the ewes bleating at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. The sheep would not have made noise during the break-in because they go quiet when threatened but have been vocal after their babies were taken. People who produce lambs for Easter had their ewes giving birth back in December so those lambs would be 40-50 pounds in spring, and economically worth raising. The stolen lambs weigh about 15 to 20 pounds but would be about eight pounds dressed out – no bigger than a house cat. The stolen lambs won’t be off milk for three months. If someone tries to feed them cows’ milk or other baby food products, they will simply die from dehydration caused by severe diarrhea, she explained. As well, it’s almost impossible to get a ewe to nurse a lamb that isn’t its own so trying to find a foster sheep is pointless. The babies’ digestive systems can’t absorb hay or grains, which will just pass right through. She said there is a ewes’ milk substitute but it’s very expensive, making it economically pointless to try and raise the lambs to sell. or an abattoir. At this point – three days after the theft She’s concerned the animals will suffer in a – the lambs will be slowly starving in all like- shoddy backyard slaughter. lihood. Embra noted her ewes’ bodies will conThe farmer is hoping against hope that tinue to produce milk even though there are before the animals suffer any more, someno lambs to nurse. It could result in them one will hear them and contact the police. becoming ill because it’s not possible to milk She said if a neighbour all of a sudden has a them. bunch of lambs, people should question it. “I may lose some of them due to mastitis,” “I know nobody is going to she said. bring them back, no questions They will do almost non-stop “I know nobody is asked but…,” she said. bleating for several days after A member of the Lower the loss of their babies. going to bring them Mainland Sheep Producers’ “If the person who took back, no questions Association, Embra has tried those lambs could here how to spread the word about the asked but…” those moms are suffering,” thefts. Embra said. Ann Embra The thieves cannot take The Langley RCMP said this the animals to an auction or isn’t the only recent theft of slaughterhouse because anilivestock. On Wednesday aftermals that young are not accepted and they noon, the owner of sheep in the 1500 block don’t have the legally required identification of 248th Street reported that five lambs were tags that allow government authorities to stolen overnight. track an animal from the farm where it was “These incidents are two of a number born through the entire food chain. It’s a of local farms hit by animal thieves,” said $500 fine to take an untagged lamb to auction Langley Const Jillian Roberts.
Farmer Ann Embra is out with the sheep often during the hectic lambing season but thieves still managed to steal 17 lambs. Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance
The three-month-old lambs had been put away in a secure barn March 22 but the lambs were taken. One was found on a neighbours’ property the next morning. The owner recalled seeing a dark full-size truck parked on 248th Street near the property with the ignition running in the evening of the overnight robbery. As well, a farm in the 24800 block of 10th Avenue was broken into during the night. Someone stole six ducks, 65 chickens and some feed. “Previously, the same farm on Dec. 27, 2010, the barn had been broken in to and 17 ducks were taken,” Roberts noted. Anyone with information about the stolen livestock is asked to contact the Langley RCMP at 604-532-3200 or their nearest police department. There are four ways to leave an “anonymous tip” with Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222TIPS (8477), www.solvecrime.ca, text BCTIP and your message to CRIMES (274637), or through the Facebook page at www.facebook. com/metrovancouvercrimestoppers.