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Some 137 cattle were reported stolen to the Department of Agriculture in 2018, the Irish Farmers Journal can reveal.
Figures from the Department show that the highest number of cattle stolen in 2018 was in Co Laois, where 35 cattle were stolen in June. Westmeath had the next biggest theft of cattle with 25, followed by Meath with 22.
Some 14 cattle were stolen in Cork last year and 11 were stolen in Limerick.
The number of cattle stolen last year increased on 2017, when 50 cattle were stolen. Cattle thefts were falling in the last number of years, but in 2018 increased again.
Cattle thefts reported to the Department of Agriculture by year:
The trend over the last number of years has shown a decrease in the number of thefts in the border counties and outside of 15 cattle being stolen in Louth and one in Donegal, there were no thefts in the rest of the border counties in 2018.
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