The core of this book focuses on a farm near Feeny, in the Sperrins region of western of Northern Ireland, where many hundreds of sheep have been killed, mutilated or wounded over a long number of years. The Police Service of Northern Ireland have been unsympathetic and unhelpful, and the local Civil Service vet staff have blamed predation for the vast majority of the deaths and injuries.
To counter these dismissals from officialdom, farmer, Ger McLaughlin, hired 3 ex-soldiers who had served in Iraq to do a stake-out on his farm. The security team had only been in place for two hours (12 midnight – 2am) when, the officer in charge rang Ger McLaughlin to say that he and his colleagues where pulling out immediately. Only a short time into a planned eight hour operation, and even with the potential to earn an extra £5,000 on top of the standard fee. They wasted no time in vacating the property and allegedly refused to reveal the reason why.
Just what exactly is happening to the animals on this remote hill farm and why is no-one at all keen to tackle the problem with a realistic and pragmatic approach.