Dorset owner of stolen pygmy goats feels vulnerable

It comes amid general concerns about rural crime and following a number of offences locally.

On Thursday, January 11, Margoat and Robbie, two 10-month old pygmy goats, were snatched from their pen at a property in Marshwood.

The moment the thieves pulled up to the property was captured on CCTV and thanks to the power of social media, Margoat and Robbie were reunited with their owner Alice Hill on Saturday, January 13.

Dorset Police Rural Crime Team reunited Margoat and Robbie with their owner Alice Hill on Saturday January 13 (Image: Dorset Police Rural Crime Team)

Since being reunited with her beloved pets, Alice has said that her family has ‘tripled’ security around the property and has had to move the location where the goats are kept.

She said: “We feel vulnerable now.  People who have seen our goats would have been on our property, so we have upped our security.

“It is sad we have had to do that, but we don’t want anyone on our property for the safety of us and our animals.

"We have had to move the goats now – they can’t go back in their enclosure as we are worried about them being taken. We are so aware of it now, so we are checking everything to make it safe and secure - everything is tripled now.”

CCTV still of thief stealing turkeys from a farm on Symondsbury Estate (Image: Supplied)

The theft of Margoat and Robbie comes after 70 turkeys were stolen from a farm on Symondsbury Estate in the lead up to Christmas, leaving the farmer devastated at his loss.

Police also seized a van and a number of gardening tools following reports of suspected hare coursing in Cranborne in October.

High value farm GPS devices were stolen in west Dorset and found hundreds of miles away, leading to two men from Hull being jailed.

A warning was issued to farmers ahead of the clocks going back in the autumn to check their security procedures as farm thefts could increase over winter.

Garden tools seized by Dorset Police Rural Crime Team (Image: Dorset Police)

The long dark nights are seen as a perfect opportunity for thieves to operate under darkness.

Despite a crime report by UK insurer NFU Mutual revealing that rural theft cost Dorset an estimated £348,000 last year, a fall of 28 per cent from the previous year – tackling the issue is still very much a priority for Dorset Police.

Dorset Police Rural Crime Team new mounted volunteers set up in October 2023 (Image: Finn Webster)

In October a new rural mounted volunteer team was deployed across the county to act as the eyes and ears of rural crime officers. 

Whilst out on their regular rides, they are able to gather important information and report anything suspicious.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police Rural Crime Team said: “We take a number of proactive approaches to tackling rural crime, including engagement events on farms where officers provide advice to rural communities on how to protect their property, and we also encourage victims of crime to report it through our Dorset Police website which has specific options for rural crime and wildlife crime.

“We regularly look for new, innovative ways to improve our policing and the mounted volunteer team, which was introduced in October 2023, is one of the new strategies we have put in place. While it may be too early at this stage to see what impact this has had, we are confident that it will make a big difference to reducing crime in the communities that we serve.

“We want members of our community to feel confident in reporting incidents to us and feel assured that it will be investigated thoroughly and robustly.”