Livestock farmers in the Kibomet area of Trans Nzoia County are up in arms. This follows a spike in incidents of theft and butchering of cattle by unknown people at night.
So far, over 10 cows have been stolen and brutally butchered since the beginning of the year.
A recent incident happened on Saturday night where a 400kg bull owned by Fredrick Rono, a livestock farmer was stolen, driven for one kilometer then brutality butchered.
The bull’s nose ring was removed and taken away.
The Ayrshire bull was beheaded, the front and hind limbs and back chopped and meat taken away.
Other body parts including the head, ribs and intestines and other organs were then dumped at the scene of crime.
The perpetrators of the inhumane act seemed to have been in such a hurry that one of them left his green jacket.
Puzzle of livestock theft in Kitale
Addressing the press at the scene, Rono said the bull was his pride and wondered what the thieves whose number is not known wanted from him.
“This is a big blow to me and my family. This was my best bull. If I had sold it, I would have made not less than 120,000 shillings,” Rono said.
Rono suspected that the meat is sneaked into butcheries and sold to unsuspecting customers.
“We are calling out our public health officers who fail to inspect meat sold in our butcheries. This is very dangerous as it exposes consumers to great danger of consuming unsafe meat,” he said.
In addition, Elkanah Serem, a local, called on the government through the ministry of Interior and National Administration to establish a police post in that area to boost security.
“Such incidents are a threat to people who work hard to pay school fees, feed their families and meet other obligations. In fact it scares away investors and we need our security enhanced as soon as possible,” Serem appealed.
Serem’s sentiments were echoed by Henry Keter who urged the security agencies in the county to employ some of their youths as National Police Reservists NPR.
“We had one of our own who diligently served as NPR officer before he rested. We now need other NPR officers to protect us and our properties especially at night because police officers stationed at Naisambu police station are few and rarely do patrols in this area,” Keter said.
Merciless killing of animals amounts to breach of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1962.
