APB seizes $1.6m cattle in St Elizabeth illegal-grazing crackdown

Livestock keepers who allow their animals to wander onto homes and privately held land risk criminal charges and the seizure of those animals, the Constabulary Force’s Agricultural Protection Branch (APB) has cautioned.

The advisory accompanies a sharper push by the unit against unauthorised grazing on such premises. That drive was underscored by a recent St Elizabeth exercise in which cattle estimated at roughly $1.6 million were taken into custody.

On Wednesday, July 15, between 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., the APB’s Area 3 Team worked jointly with the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation. Officers seized eight head of cattle in the course of that exercise.

The APB says people living in the parish have repeatedly complained about free-roaming stock and unlawful grazing, pointing to harm to farm investments and private holdings and to dangers for the wider public. In parts of the parish, wandering cattle are said to have wrecked crops on a large scale, leaving farmers with losses running into millions of dollars.

Owners are being urged to keep their animals confined and under watch. The police say any stock caught grazing without permission will be impounded, and charges may follow where the facts support prosecution.