$500,000 cow butchered by thugs

Lennord Cameron, 75, of East Albion in St Thomas was a sight of despair as he stared at the carcass of his prized cow on Tuesday morning.

One man has been taken in for questioning, and an unknown number of others are on the run in connection with the act.

"Mi inna mi house night before last and dem come and stone the house just for me to come out, maybe to kill me. I don't know, but mi never come out. When morning come I realise I lost three goats. They came back about 4:30 this (Tuesday) morning. My daughter tell me that some guys out a door and when mi guh look, dem cut the cow rope and gone with it," he said.

Cameron told THE STAR that neighbours said they spotted seven men brandishing machetes, knives and a gun.

Called the police

He shared, "One of my neighbour called the police but them did already cut out the cow belly." He lamented the amount of time and hard work put into raising the animal.

"Mi buy that cow from him a little baby calf ... he's about five years old now and him give me two calves. When the time dry mi can't get nuh grass at all fi him eat ... Mi affi walk and pick up mango seed and buy bag feeding. A nuff work mi put in," he said. "Is nearly $400,000 to $500,000 that mi lose there suh. See Father God help me, dem never get away with him. Maybe mi can still get a little meat from him before it too late." One of his neighbours said that praedial larceny is rampant in the community.

"One man tell me him lose 24 head a goat the other day and a same suh during the big rain about two months ago dem bruck in and rob mi house. So we decide to come together and inform each other anytime we hear or see anything weh nuh look right and a suh we hear the dog dem a bark and know something wrong and call the police," she said.

The St Thomas police admitted that the parish continues to grapple with praedial larceny and they have established a special unit to tackle the issue.