Some of the most valuable sheep in Fermanagh are to undergo retina scanning in a bid to protect them from rustlers.
Rural thefts cost Northern Ireland�s agriculture industry an estimated �3.9m last year.
And police are now teaming up with farmers to fight back against the thieves, with a scheme funded by assets stripped from criminals through the Assets Recovery Agency.
When thieves come up they usually have a very good cover story, such as that they are looking for work.�


Farmwatch is designed to support farmers and give them better protection against criminal activity, according to Sergeant Scott Fallis of the Fermanagh North Neighbourhood Policing Team.

�If it�s a sheep farmer, we will offer retina scanning, targeting the high value rams and breeding stock, and that information will be stored on a central database. The ear tags could have been taken off but the police will still be able to identify that sheep as belonging to a participating farmer.�

The scheme offers �Farmwatch� signage, property recording for the database, trailer and quad marking and sheep retina scanning.

Police are also providing data tag marking kits for 100 farmers from each of the four Neighbourhood Policing Teams in the county

Read full story in Belfast Telegraph here: http://bit.ly/Hl0MvF