Police have received isolated reports in the Doomadgee area over the past year for the offence of “killing stock with intent to steal”.
This offence, commonly known as a killer involves the offenders killing the beast in the paddock and butchering it for the meat.
To date, no person has been charged in relation to these reports.
The offence is a crime and is treated the same as the offence of stealing the animal.
Offenders in some circumstances can be sentenced to a term of imprisonment or fined to the value of that actual animal or 10 penalty units.
Local MOCS (rural) detectives have a good relationship with the managers of the properties and provide advice regarding best practices when dealing with these situations.
Isolated areas are often targeted for this type of offending and as such, police work with managers to develop strategies to deter such offending, including signage and the use of farm cameras to detect offenders and trespassers.
The local police and MOCS (rural) investigators conduct increased patrols of areas identified to be at risk of this type of offending and intercept vehicles in these areas to gather evidence and intelligence and to educate people on the laws against trespassing and stock related offences.
This issue is not isolated to the Doomadgee area.
Police will continue to work with the property managers in the area and act on any information, either provided by them or the public to develop strategies to prevent these offences and also charge any persons found to be involved.