Some 1,144 sheep have been reported to gardaí as stolen over the last two years, the Irish Farmers Journal can reveal.

The stolen sheep resulted from 73 reported incidents of sheep theft in 2021 and 2022, meaning there was an average of 16 sheep taken per theft.

Gardaí also received reports of 31 horse thefts involving 45 animals and less than 10 poultry thefts involving 138 birds, over the same period.

While not all cattle thefts reported to the Department of Agriculture may be reported to gardaí, the force was involved in 49 cattle theft investigations involving 353 animals over the two years.

To prevent the theft of livestock, gardaí recommend that all farmers restrict access to their yards and install gates and locks. They say farmers should also ensure yards are well lit. For all machinery, farmers should take pictures of key identification features.

Gardaí say all farmers should sign up to community alert groups and report all thefts, no matter how small.