Stock theft in Namibia is a prevalent crime. [1] Animals are slaughtered for human consumption or sold at auctions for monetary gain. [2]
Stock theft in Namibia is a prevalent crime. [1] Animals are slaughtered for human consumption or sold at auctions for monetary gain. [2]
The relevant legislation is the Stock Theft Act. This act was amended in 2004 such that it prescribes long jail terms, even for first-time offenders: Theft of livestock over the value of 500N$ (e.g. a goat or a sheep) since then carries a minimum of 20 years in jail, and a minimum of 30 years for repeat offenders. Livestock valued at less than 500N$ (e.g. a chicken) carries a mandatory jail sentence of 2 years. [1]
In a 2011 case before the High Court, two such 20-year jail term convictions were reduced to five years, and the mandatory jail terms declared unconstitutional. An appeal against this judgement is [update] with the Supreme Court. [1]
Otjiwarongo members of the Namibian Police (NAMPOL) and the nearby farmers in the Otjozondjupa Region have struggled to check the increase in stock thefts in the area. Otjozundjupa Regional Police Commissioner Joseph Anghuwo has described stock theft in the region as a big tough thing to farmers as well as to the police in large. Based on the statistics given by Nampol sixty-eight cases of stock theft were reported while the police dealt with 10 cases of illegal hunting during the period from January–March 2012. Joseph Anghuwo have also pointed out that upon taking up the office in 2007, it was decided to organize communal and commercial farmers in the region which led to the creation of a farmers association, which went on to become a crime prevention forum. [3]
According to Anghuwo suspects have identified the following as the main reason why the attempted to steal:
Commercial and communal farmers throughout Namibia have suffered losses of at least N$600,000 due to stock theft in 2009, when 101 head of cattle, 93 sheep and 151 goats had been either stolen or slaughtered from January to July. It was highlighted that most of the animals theft are done by people between the age of 16 years to 24 years. [5] There is a supposed syndicate of stock thieves operating in the area of Seeis, Steinhausen and Hochfeld, mainly using assegais to kill cattle. [6]
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starting with the Neolithic revolution when animals were first domesticated, from around 13,000 BC onwards, predating farming of the first crops. By the time of early civilisations such as ancient Egypt, cattle, sheep, goats and pigs were being raised on farms.
Mandatory sentence requires that offenders serve a predefined term for certain crimes, commonly serious and violent offenses. Judges are bound by law; these sentences are produced through the legislature, not the judicial system. They are instituted to expedite the sentencing process and limit the possibility of irregularity of outcomes due to judicial discretion. Mandatory sentences are typically given to people who are convicted of certain serious and/or violent crimes, and require a prison sentence. Mandatory sentencing laws vary across nations; they are more prevalent in common law jurisdictions because civil law jurisdictions usually prescribe minimum and maximum sentences for every type of crime in explicit laws.
Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle. In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the perpetrator as a duffer. In North America, especially in the Wild West cowboy culture, cattle theft is dubbed rustling, while an individual who engages in it is a rustler.
Live export is the commercial transport of livestock across national borders. The trade involves a number of countries with the Australian live export industry being one of the largest exporters in the global trade. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, exports of live sheep rose 21.4% and live calves increased 9.7% between March 2017 and March 2018. During 2017 alone, Australia exported 2.85 million living animals in shipping containers and airplanes. The expansion of the trade has been supported by the introduction of purpose-built ships which carry large numbers of animals. The amount of livestock exported from the European Union grew to nearly 586m kilograms between 2014 and 2017, a 62.5% increase during the time period.
A habitual offender, repeat offender, or career criminal, is a person convicted of a crime who was previously convicted of crimes. Various state and jurisdictions may have laws targeting habitual offenders, and specifically providing for enhanced or exemplary punishments or other sanctions. They are designed to counter criminal recidivism by physical incapacitation via imprisonment.
An ear tag is a plastic or metal object used for identification of domestic livestock and other animals. If the ear tag uses Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) technology it is referred to as an electronic ear tag. Electronic ear tags conform to international standards ISO 11784 and ISO 11785 working at 134.2 kHz, as well as ISO/IEC 18000-6C operating in the UHF spectrum. There are other non-standard systems such as Destron working at 125 kHz. Although there are many shapes of ear tags, the main types in current use are as follows:
Pastoral farming is aimed at producing livestock, rather than growing crops. Examples include dairy farming, raising beef cattle, and raising sheep for wool. In contrast, arable farming concentrates on crops rather than livestock. Finally, mixed farming incorporates livestock and crops on a single farm. Some mixed farmers grow crops purely as fodder for their livestock; some crop farmers grow fodder and sell it. In some cases pastoral farmers are known as graziers, and in some cases pastoralists. Pastoral farming is a non-nomadic form of pastoralism in which the livestock farmer has some form of ownership of the land used, giving the farmer more economic incentive to improve the land. Unlike other pastoral systems, pastoral farmers are sedentary and do not change locations in search of fresh resources. Rather, pastoral farmers adjust their pastures to fit the needs of their animals. Improvements include drainage, stock tanks, irrigation and sowing clover.
Polled livestock are livestock without horns in species which are normally horned. The term refers to both breeds and strains that are naturally polled through selective breeding and also to naturally horned animals that have been disbudded. Natural polling occurs in cattle, yaks, water buffalo, and goats, and in these animals it affects both sexes equally; in sheep, by contrast, both sexes may be horned, both polled, or only the females polled. The history of breeding polled livestock starts about 6000 years BC.
Horse theft is the crime of stealing horses. A person engaged in stealing horses is known as a horse thief. Historically, punishments were often severe for horse theft, with several cultures pronouncing the sentence of death upon actual or presumed thieves. Several societies were formed in the United States to prevent horse theft and apprehend horse thieves. However, horse theft continues to occur throughout the world, as horses are stolen for their meat, for ransom, or in disputes between their owners and other persons. Horse theft today is comparable to automobile theft, a crime punishable by felony jail time. Both horses and cars are valuable commodities.
The Red Line, also referred to as the veterinary cordon fence (VCF) is a pest-exclusion fence separating northern Namibia from the central and southern country parts. It encases several northern regions: Oshana Region, Kavango East Region, Omusati Region, Zambezi Region, Omaheke Region, Kunene Region, and parts of Khomas Region and Oshikoto Region. South of the fence today there commercial farms where the farmers, many of which are white, own the land. Most of these farms are fenced in and are accessible by constructed farm roads. North of the line, on the other hand, all farm land is communal and operated mostly by black farmers. Livestock is not constrained by fences and often ventures onto roads. The red line is a highly guarded line which has roadblocks to check every vehicle which passes.
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce commodities such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals who are raised for consumption, and sometimes used to refer solely to farmed ruminants, such as cattle, sheep and goats. Horses are considered livestock in the United States. The USDA classifies pork, veal, beef, and lamb (mutton) as livestock, and all livestock as red meat. Poultry and fish are not included in the category.
The Japan foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2010 occurred in Miyazaki Prefecture, affecting cattle, swine, sheep and goats. A similar outbreak had occurred ten years earlier, in 2000. Located on the eastern coast of Japan's Kyūshū island, Miyazaki Prefecture plays a significant role in supplying top-quality Wagyū cattle for the production of Wagyū beef throughout Japan including Matsuzaka and Ōmi. The number of livestock killed was 297,808, and the estimated economic loss was 235 billion yen.
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The Code of Criminal Procedure commonly called Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India. It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974. It provides the machinery for the investigation of crime, apprehension of suspected criminals, collection of evidence, determination of guilt or innocence of the accused person and the determination of punishment of the guilty. It also deals with public nuisance, prevention of offences and maintenance of wife, child and parents.
Namibia is a country of origin, transit, and destination for foreign and Namibian women and children, and possibly for men subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution. Traffickers exploit Namibian children, as well as children from Angola and Zambia, through forced labor in agriculture, cattle herding, involuntary domestic servitude, charcoal production, and commercial sexual exploitation. In some cases, Namibian parents unwittingly sell their children to traffickers. Reports indicate that vulnerable Namibian children are recruited for forced prostitution in Angola and South Africa, typically by truck drivers. There is also some evidence that traffickers move Namibian women to South Africa and South African women to Namibia to be exploited in forced prostitution. Namibian women and children, including orphans, from rural areas are the most vulnerable to trafficking. Victims are lured by traffickers to urban centers and commercial farms with promises of legitimate work for good wages they may never receive. Some adults subject children to whom they are distantly related to forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Small business owners and farmers may also participate in trafficking crimes against women or children. Victims are forced to work long hours to carry out hazardous tasks, and may be beaten or raped by traffickers or third parties.
Namibia is located in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that has some of the highest crime rates in the world. Contributing factors are for instance poverty, a low level of development, and huge social and economic disadvantages. For example, according to government statistics, the unemployment rate reached 28.1% in 2014; in 2008, it was 51.2%.
Cattle slaughter, especially cow slaughter, is a controversial topic of religion in India, because of cattle's traditional status as an endeared and respected living being to adherents of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Parsi-Zoroastrianism, while being an acceptable source of meat for Muslims, Christians, and Jews, as well as the adherents of other non-Dharmic religions, such as Animists and Irani Zoroastrians. Cow slaughter has been shunned for a number of reasons, specifically because of the cow's association with the god Krishna in Hinduism, and because cattle have been an integral part of rural livelihoods as an economic necessity. Cattle slaughter has also been opposed by various Indian religions because of the ethical principle of Ahimsa (non-violence) and the belief in the unity of all life. Legislation against cattle slaughter is in place throughout most states and territories of India.
Australia is the world's largest live exporter of animals for slaughter. The trade involved over three million animals in 2011 valued at approximately A$1 billion, of which the majority were cattle and sheep. However, the live export trade only accounts for 0.4% of all Australian exports, as of 2014.
In India, cow vigilante violence is the use of physical force in the name of "cow protection". Since 2014, mob attacks targeting mostly illegal cow smugglers, but in some cases even licensed cow traders, have become prominent. There is a debate on whether there has actually been any change in the number of such incidences, as Government Data points out to reduced communal tensions post 2014. Cattle slaughter is banned in most states of India. Recently emerged cow vigilante groups, claiming to be protecting cattle, have been violent leading to a number of deaths. Cow-protection groups see themselves as preventing theft, protecting the cow or upholding the law in an Indian state which bans cow slaughter. According to a Reuters report, a total of 63 cow vigilante attacks had occurred in India between 2010 and mid 2017, most after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. In these attacks between 2010 and June 2017, "28 Indians – 24 of them Muslims – were killed and 124 injured", states the Reuter's report.
Cattle theft, more commonly cattle raiding or cattle lifting, is a property crime in India. In the ancient and medieval era India texts, stealing cattle is described as a crime and sin, a motif that appears in Hindu mythologies.