Senator Lamin Newton is urging restaurants, weekend food vendors and shopkeepers not to purchase goat meat from people suspected of stealing livestock.

Newton issued the appeal during the Beneath the Surface radio programme after recounting a conversation with a livestock farmer who said the theft of goats had become a serious problem.

He said buyers should question individuals offering goat meat for sale when those sellers are not known to own farms or raise animals.

“Do not encourage the thieves by buying any sort of goat meat from people who you know have no farm and don’t raise goats,” Newton said.

He warned that purchasing meat believed to be stolen encourages livestock thieves to continue targeting farmers because they know there is a market for the animals.

“When you do that, you are encouraging them because they can come back again and keep coming back,” Newton said.

The senator asked businesses and members of the public to consider the financial and emotional impact livestock theft has on farmers who spend significant time and money raising their animals.

“Put yourself in the place of the farmers who work hard and raise their animals just to have somebody come in, steal it and come and sell it to you at a reduced price,” he said.

Newton said refusing to purchase suspected stolen meat would be a practical way for businesses and consumers to condemn livestock theft.

“Protest against it by not buying it,” he said.

He urged buyers to make it clear that they will not support people selling animals or meat obtained through theft, arguing that removing the market would make the crime less profitable.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Newton Urges Businesses Not to Buy Suspected Stolen Goat Meat.