Farmers in southern Western Australia say trespassers who cut fences to enter private land for hunting and camping are turning livestock into safety hazards, allowing them to escape onto nearby roads.
Cattle producer Geoff Pearson said one of his properties, located along a major regional highway, had been targeted for the past three years.
“They cut [the fences], we patch them, they cut them, we patch them. If they don’t cut the fences we’ve got situations where they just drive straight over the gates,” he said.
“We’ve had instances where cattle have been hit by cars. We’ve had to compensate the [driver] in write-off situations.
“Fortunately no-one has been injured … but we have to fit the bill on that.”
Carl Fjastad says cattle roaming onto roads poses risks at any time of day. (ABC Open contributor vikkikay61)
Mr Pearson, who is also the WAFarmers’ livestock section president, said an estimated 200 trespass incidents had cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“It’s just endless. We can’t control it,” he said.
Bridgetown farmer Lawson Harper said cattle escaped onto the South West Highway after pig hunters cut gate locks at his neighbour’s property two months ago.
Mr Harper said pig hunters also took their hunting dogs and broke onto his property, which “distresses” his cows.
“It’s just blatant disregard. I’m not sure why it’s developed but it seems to be the norm now,” he said.
Mr Lawson said it was “a matter of time” before someone got hurt as a result of livestock getting out and wandering onto roads.
Livestock wandering onto roads can be a significant safety hazard. (ABC News: Kate Forrester)
Safety risk
City of Albany ranger Carl Fjastad said there was growing community concern about straying livestock with 88 reports of farm animals on roads in the Great Southern in the past year.
He said livestock on roads was a “real hazard to road users”, particularly during hours of darkness.
“Think about a car colliding with a cow. That can certainly lead to life-threatening injuries, potentially even death,” he said.
Livestock pose risks to road users when they escape from paddocks and wander onto roads. (ABC Rural: Jane McNaughton)
Mr Fjastad said a driver was lucky to escape injury after crashing into a stray cow on the road near Redmond, four hours south of Perth, in May this year.
Cattle poisoned
The problem is not a new one for local farmers.
A decade ago Brunswick dairy and beef farmer Paul Ieraci was out checking his boundaries when he noticed fencing had been cut and vehicles had driven though.
“You hit panic mode,” he said.
Mr Ieraci said a neighbour then called him and said they had “come across some dead cattle” they believed to be his.
Paul Ieraci says at least 20 of his cattle died after hunters cut the fence on his property. (ABC South West WA: Kate Forrester)
Mr Ieraci’s cattle had escaped through the damaged fence and wandered into bushland filled with heart-leaf poison bush.
“I came across the dead cattle, which was quite heartbreaking,” he said.
Mr Ieraci said he was able to save some, but more than 20 Friesian steers and mated heifers died.
“It’s not our intent to put our cattle in danger, to have them roaming the roads and highways,” he said.
“But that’s what happens when you’ve got these irresponsible people doing what they’re doing.”What can be done?
Mr Pearson said when people trespassed onto his property he contacted local police and tried to provide as much information as possible.
He has since invested in hundreds of cameras around his property to try and deter trespassers or help identify them.
A herd of cattle in WA’s south. (Supplied)
Despite there being no easy fix he remained hopeful he will one day get livestock back in his paddock.
A WA Police spokesperson said trespassing or causing damage to a person’s property was a criminal offence that “can impact on a farmer’s livelihood”.
They said it was difficult to ascertain how widespread the problem was in remote agricultural areas.
“Many of these crimes go undetected and unreported due to the sheer size of the farms and their secluded location,” the spokesperson said.
Anyone with information about suspicious activity around rural properties is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.