MANCHESTER, Jamaica —The quick action of residents of New Green, near Martin’s Hill dump in Manchester, thwarted alleged cow thieves on Wednesday morning as farmers in the south-central parish continue to struggle with praedial larceny.

Reports suggest that the alleged thieves, who managed to escape after slaughtering a bull around 5:30 am, threatened to shoot a resident, who alerted the farmer whose cow was being stolen and the police.

The resident reportedly hid in bushes after raising the alarm.

“The man heard some noise and when he looked, he saw that men were stealing the cow, so he raised an alarm and they threatened to shoot him. So he went and hid and then is like they realised that people might come down on them, so dem lef the cow and run weh,” said a resident.

The slaughtered bull was reportedly found mere meters from the main road where the thieves abandoned it.

Observer Online was told that farmers in the area have lost goats to thieves.

In recent weeks, there have been several reports of praedial larceny in Manchester.

Just last week, amendments to the Agricultural Produce Act were passed in the House of Representatives to seek more stringent penalties to address the issue of praedial larceny. Under the amended Bill, the maximum fine for people convicted of transporting stolen agricultural produce has moved from $250,000 to $1 million, and the maximum prison term of three months is now three years.

READ: Agri stakeholders welcome amended law to tackle farm theft”