KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is urging Jamaicans to exercise due diligence when buying livestock, to avoid purchasing stolen animals.

The call comes against the background of incidents of praedial larceny that have robbed farmers of their livestock and placed consumers at risk of buying stolen meat or live animals.

Senior RADA Livestock Specialist, Maxine Brown, says people should verify whether sellers are registered with the authority as livestock owners.

“Say you go to a farm or you’ll see it sometimes on social media or even on WhatsApp, you can find out if they’re a registered farmer with RADA. Therefore, you can be reassured that… what they’re selling you should be legitimate and not stolen,” she said.

In light of this, Jamaicans should contact their nearest RADA Parish Office to verify the source of livestock.

Currently, Jamaica is losing over $8 billion from economic activity in the agriculture sector due to praedial larceny.

Brown said if people buy stolen animals and are stopped by the police, “then you would have lost twice”.

“You’d have paid the person for the animal then the police are going to take the animal from you because it’s a stolen animal. So, everyone just needs to do their due diligence,” she stated.

Meanwhile, farmers are being reminded to implement security features on their farms to safeguard them against praedial larceny attempts.

“Protect your surroundings. Put in your perimeter fencing and inspect your fence to make sure it is intact and nobody has cut a hole in there, or anything like that. You want to make sure you have adequate lighting. So, you want to put up your lights, and with lights nowadays, a lot of persons are putting in cameras,” Brown said.

-JIS