Regular visitors can hardly have missed it: in recent years the necessary measures have been taken at the care farm De Badhoeve on the Groenezoom in Badhoevedorp to keep uninvited guests out. After two new incidents in recent weeks, chairman Ronald de Vré is about to purchase a surveillance camera to deter or catch the perpetrators.
A man who walked his dog near De Badhoeve on Tuesday evening saw two young boys pelt the three sheep in the meadow, Ronald tells NH Nieuws. “They have been standing at the fence throwing stones at the sheep.” As far as he was able to determine, the sheep were not hit. “But one sheep was very frightened.”
Three weeks ago, the damage was greater. “Then a ram drowned,” says Ronald. He has no proof that outsiders were involved, but he strongly suspects that. “We think someone let their dog run across the pasture and chased the ram.”
And that wasn’t the first time the animals had come under attack either. “Five to ten times in the past year,” says Ronald. In addition, two of the sheep are easy victims: because they were bottle-raised, they are not shy. “We regularly find stones in the meadow. You just see that something has happened.”
“After the ram drowned, a local resident started a collection”
The farm was also a regular target in previous years. “We have closed the gate and put shutters on the windows”, he sums up what the farm has done in the meantime to keep vandals, burglars and other scum away. “And there is still a low fence around the meadow, but we are thinking about making it a high fence.”
There is no camera surveillance yet, but that will soon change thanks to ‘a spontaneous neighborhood action’. “After the ram drowned, a local resident started a collection. The money is almost together.”
Measures necessary evil
Ronald sees all security measures as a necessary evil. “I’m not a fan of gates and locks,” he says. “There are schools around our farm, the intention is that everyone can walk around them”, he emphasizes the educational value of the care farm where daytime activities are offered. Including Julian de Kievit, about whom NH News earlier this year made a reportthere is a child at home.
He has not yet reported the matter to the police, but he has reported the matter to the municipality. A spokesperson could not confirm this at the time of publication of this article.
In addition, Ronald asks local residents ‘particularly in the evenings, around dusk’ to keep an eye on things. “More social control,” he concludes.