A SECOND man has been charged in relation to stealing sheep valued at about $80,000 in the Skipton area.
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Vintangelo (Ang) Puopolo, 32, of Greenvale, north of Melbourne has been charged with six counts of theft.
He was arrested, interviewed, charged and bailed to appear in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court on April 16.
He's the second person charged in relation to the theft which were allegedly committed between November 3 and December 11.
Detective Senior Constable Wayne Ryan, of the Warrnambool police crime investigation unit, said inquiries were continuing and police officers expect to interview two Ballarat district men next week.
In late December a 16-year-old from the Skipton area was charged with the theft of about 300 sheep valued at $80,000.
Detective Senior Constable Ryan said that on December 20 investigators from the Warrnambool CIU, the Warrnambool police divisional response unit and Camperdown uniform officers raided a property in the Skipton/Lismore/Berribank district.
"A stolen tandem trailer was located valued at $3000 and 48 ear tags which had been removed from sheep. A 16-year-old male youth was arrested in relation to theft of the trailer and possession of the stolen ear tags,” Detective Senior Constable Ryan said .
The youth was interviewed and has been charged with theft of the trailer, seven counts of theft of sheep valued at a total of $81,000 and serious driving offences.
The youth was released on bail to appear in a children's court at a later date.
Detective Senior Constable Ryan said information from the public had proved invaluable.
Police Acting Superintendent Damien Christensen said the force was focused on reducing farm and livestock thefts.
“We know the farming community is concerned about incidents of stock theft and we want to reassure everyone that police take this issue very seriously,” Acting Superintendent Christensen said.
We know the farming community is concerned about incidents of stock theft and we want to reassure everyone that police take this issue very seriously
- Police Acting Superintendent Damien Christensen
“We want to remind the farming community that police are here to help.”