SMALL FARMER Elmore Duncan is frustrated; not only with the thieves who have been stealing his animals, but also with the non-response of the police.Last week he had to rush back to Barbados from St Vincent after being informed by his friend George Glasgow that someone had stolen six of his pigs from his farm at Gibbons Boggs in Christ Church.Lamenting the losses he has suffered over the years from thieves, Duncan believes the police are not taking his reports seriously.“I have been raising pigs and chickens for seven years, and there is not a year that [thieves] don’t come and carry away my pigs and chickens. And only once have the police come to my farm to investigate and take a report.“Last year when they stole 100 chickens from me, the police tell me that they don’t have anyone to send, even though I called them for three days straight. “I went to the Oistins Police Station last Saturday to tell them what happened and they did not write down anything. All they told me was okay, and that was it,” said an upset Duncan.His friend Glasgow said when he turned up at Duncan’s farm to feed the animals last Tuesday and found the galvanised roofing ripped off, the fence cut and the pigs missing, he immediately went to Oistins Police Station, but that the response from the police left him in shock.“I tell them that the man gone to St Vincent and left me to look after his animals and someone broke in and steal six pigs. And they tell me they cannot take a report from me until Duncan returns. “I try to explain to them that the man left me in charge and the fence cut; but they tell me that he probably send someone to take the pigs.” An angry Duncan said his farm and shop were his only livlihood, and that he could no longer continue with the two businesses if the thieves continued to target him.“They broke into my shop 13 times in 12 years and they keep stealing my animals. I borrowed money from the bank to start my businaesses, and I owe the bank thousands of dollars. I am struggling to make my payments. How can I pay them back if I continue to lose money like this?” he cried.He said the pigs were valued at $900 each and would have been ready for market in two weeks’ time.Duncan said because of the multiple thefts he sometimes slept at his farm to guard his animals.“This is very hard. Each time I get up, they push me back down. It got me in real, real debt.”
