Public cutting fences

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Ranyhyn

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Does anyone else have an issue with this?

One of our 5 fields has a boundary with an industrial estate housing a quiet set of offices. Quite often you see kids playing football on the carpark area (joy) or teenagers doing doughnuts in their cars (more joy). However as it's the furthest field from the farmhouse, it doesn't cause us any issues.

Apart from the fact someone seems dead set on cutting one part of our fencing and coming in (I assume from the bent sheep wire) Now this could be deemed fairly innocuous - kids lose ball over fence and need to come in and out - no problem if they aren't being shites. But kids don't have the neccessaries to cut barbed wire do they?!

So what's the best method of preventing this - or is there no way particularly? Livestock are all present and correct and as it's just a field, there's nothing worth taking there, apart of course from the horses (however at present their worth is debatable!!!)

Or is this just something we'll have to deal with, as I say it's not particularly bothersome as it doesn't appear they are doing anything but it does beg the question - what ARE they doing it for?
 
Sorry AM, my OH IS in the police and even we know they can't do anything. There's no surveillance, no witnesses, no evidence...they aren't doing anything apart from criminal damage and what's the cost of 3 foot of barbed wire?

It's barely worth the admin costs of taking it through court and it wouldn't even get to court knowing the justice system round here. And that's basing it on catching someone which they wont. Sad but true.
 
I know when someone messed with the fence in the field I rent and horse/pony both got into the drive,the police were informed AGAIN as its happened before (different fence) So I put electric fence all the way around and no probs since.I have ideas who is was and they are teens of 14-16ish and his friend admitted they had been in the field,so I warned him to tell them to stay out and that the police are involved,which they are and my daughter told him I was on the phone to the police.lol Scared him.
Id put electric fence up with a energizer run by batteries.
 
You do need to deal with this as you now know that it is regularly being cut and so could be liable if your animals stray as a result of the wire being cut.

I think the best option would be electric, although be careful you have signs and that it can't easily be disconnected.

The alternative may be to just accept that someone wants to come into the field and make it so that they can do so without causing damage... perhaps by running a single strand of electric a foot inside the fence line to keep the animals in and then repairing the fence with sturdy wooden posts that are easily climbed....

You could also try to catch the perpartrator at it, either by keeping watch out of site or by rigging up some temporary surveillance. Once you know who it is an why they are doing it you may be able to address it better.
 
The problem is, with the leccy running off a battery - it isn't actually a strong deterrant. Plus I remember being young (if it is indeed youngsters) and we knew exactly how to get the fence down still without being zapped :confused:

Kat I suppose you we could erect an area of post and rail that can be climbed. That might be the best method. I don't think there is any malice, lets face it if you want to steal livestock you just get on with it. So hoping maybe it might be someone coming through to trap/shoot etc? Maybe?
 
Is there any sign of them walking through & getting out elsewhere? We had a guy that was using the fields as a shortcut home regularly.
 
Could it be a dog walker? Sounds bonkers but where I kept my horse he had one field that had sloppy fencing and dog walkers started using it. He then needed to use it so put proper fencing up and dog walkers just kept breaking it down! In the end he sheep fenced it and they realised that they had to stay on the bridleway (which ran parallel to the field and was just a nice :o)
 
gypsies kept cutting our fencing out to steal our electricity cables off the pilons. They succeded twice but think they were disturbed on the third attempt. Its rather annoying!!
 
No LL, once you get in here you are landlocked every other direction for quite some distance. That's why I considered they were hunting of some sort?

Not likely to be a live dog walker, the horses aren't keen! :D

It's sheep fencing (to keep our sheep in) and then topped with barbed wire. We recently (in the last month) replaced the whole line of fencing, which is when we noticed it had been cut (not fallen/snapped etc) so replaced it with a higher strand and lo it's been cut again (and replaced again)
 
BoolavogueDC said:
Too far away from the house to put it on mains, isn't it? :confused: We're talking some 15 acres away! :( That's what I wanted to do though!!
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The right mains electric fence will go 5 miles. I've got one. Battery is good though, you can still deliver a hell of a belt.
 
Might be worth finding out who it is, if it is as you suspect one individual who is coming in to trap or hunt then you might be best coming to an agreement with them regarding access that doesn't involve cutting fences.
 
We have this all the time, usually dog walkers who think they have a right to go where they want and you cannot stop them, they even carry wire cutters with them to make sure they can continue on their way. I would expect the police to at least give a warning for criminal damage if you can catch them. A battery energiser will get stolen and whilst our mains fencer will do 5 miles I would be more worried that they would simply short out the fence if they wanted to continue, as mine also holds my stallions I would be concerned about that happening. It is blurdy annoying when the fence is cut within 24 hours of you mending it! We are going to drop a hawthorn tree in front of the fence on our bit that keeps getting cut and widen the stream, make a dam to make it too deep to cross. The best you can hope for is that you can catch them at it, take their photos and threaten to report them for criminal damage if the fence is damaged in any way again, or follow them home and sit on their front lawn, preferably with a dog that needs a big poo!! The 'right to roam' has a lot to answer for!
 
I would be investing in CCTV and then having film of them doing it the police should be more interested or you can confront them yourself. Make sure it is not reachable tho, the council put up one at our old place to stop fly tipping and the travellers (we recognised them, not being racist) nicked the camera......next seen guarding their site so they knew when the old bill had turned up...:-OOO
 
BoolavogueDC said:
I don't think there is any malice, lets face it if you want to steal livestock you just get on with it. So hoping maybe it might be someone coming through to trap/shoot etc? Maybe?
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trapping or shooting on your land without your permission is illegal!!And if they're amatuers i'd be very concerned about the safety of my animals:mad:
I'd stick a miserable bull in the field with the correct signs and see what was found in the morning:D or mothers and calves, fiestier than bulls at this time of year:eek:
Some signs along the fence stating it's private property and shooting takes place may be enough to deter idiots, seems to have worked on the local bridleway which goes through a private estate;)
 
As above I would suggest re-fencing with extra high and heavy duty post and rail fencing which has Equi-Fencing (a tight form of sheet netting) on it. You could also add electric fencing to it if you can mole -drill a supply to it.
 
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