Villagers from Mazwi peri-urban village in Ward 17 have been advised to keep their stock cards upto date to mitigate cases of stocktheft in their area.
The advice was given by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) during a community meeting that was held by Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) on Wednesday.
Speaking at the meeting, members of the police force said Mazwi village is prone to theft of livestock, and lack of vigilance from the villagers makes it difficult to trace the culprits.
“We carry out periodic inspections of livestock that you own at your homesteads. One of the greatest challenges we have observed is unavailability of upto date stock cards,” an officer from Pumula said.
“When you call us to clear your livestock when you now want to sell or slaughter, we find that the herd you have are not in sync with what is reflected on your stock cards.
“You must always make sure to update your stock cards. If you sell, slaughter or buy more livestock. Please also refrain from adding stray cattle to your herds, because when you do that you will be charged with stock theft for possessing cattle that you cannot account for.”
The police officer further advised the villagers to report theft of donkeys, citing that most only come claiming that they hsve “found” their stolen donkeys.
“With donkeys, we have realised that most people do not promptly report when they go missing, but only come running to the station when they identify their missing donkeys at a different homestead,” said a police officer.
“By then it would be too late to trace the case. Because how do we chase for a livestock that was not reported as missing in the first place?”
The police officer further implored the villagers to adhere to set regulations as far as registering livestock is concerned.
“Always make sure that you go to the registrar to get an allocated brand that will be unique to you. That will protect your livestock from rustlers, and when found it would be easy to identify,” she said.
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