Kerry woman Mary Kissane has been left without an income from her suckler herd this year, following the theft of her five in-calf cows last October.

The Hereford cows would have been due to calve in May and were “slaughtered for a quick buck”, after being stolen, the farmer believes.

Between the potential calves lost and having to keep replacement heifers to build back up her herd, Kissane said she will have no weanlings to sell this year.

“I won’t sell anything at all this year. What can you do? It could have happened at a worse time when I had kids in college. The grant is all I have now,” said Kissane, who estimates the value of the stolen livestock at €10,000.

Arrest

Kissane’s cows were taken from an outfarm yard near Tarbert, Co Kerry – the area at the centre of an ongoing Garda farm theft investigation – but she has not been told if the man recently arrested and released without charge had anything to do with her case.

“I don’t know. They won’t tell you much, the Gardaí. I gave up talking to them and tormenting them. They’re always saying, ‘oh we’re doing this and that’, but I don’t expect to hear from them,” she said.

The Kerry farmer, in her 70s, has been told her cattle were taken at the first ad break of the Late Late Toy Show, at 10:10pm on 25 November 2022.

“If they get those responsible, that would be a help. I’m putting locks on the gates, cameras up. You’d be worried now all the time,” she added.

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Thieves take five pedigree Herefords in north Kerry