🐑 CDA Livestock Monitoring
Providing solutions to protect your livestock.
👮 A Bit of Background
My name is Pat Shannon, and I am a retired Garda Detective.
I joined An Garda Síochána in 1986 and retired in 2018. I was appointed to the detective branch and worked 27 years in various crime units investigating murder, robbery, and subversion, with the last nine years spent working in intelligence.
In 2022, a very good friend who farms over 400 acres of lowland in the West of Ireland contacted me asking for help with livestock theft.
Over a cup of tea, he explained how they had been victims of sheep theft for years. He had recently bought 100 pedigree sheep to add to his flock. Within the first two weeks, 25 sheep went missing, and the following week, 25 more.
Using a GPS device placed around the neck of a selected number of sheep and monitoring his stock, I identified the suspect and contacted the local Garda station. I provided them with a download of the movement history, showing a device located on the suspect’s property.
All the missing stock were recovered, and I am happy to say that, to date, there have been no further reports of theft.
I also helped several hill farmers track and monitor their flocks. Two years ago, I recovered over two hundred stolen sheep.
📡 How We Use GPS Technology Today
This brings us to where we are today — using advanced GPS devices to protect livestock.
These are battery-powered GPS units, with batteries lasting up to 12 months, depending on settings and alerts. Each device is fitted with an IoT SIM card.
After modifying and testing the GPS devices in Ireland and the UK, I now have the support of a major global GPS and IoT device manufacturer — Digital Matter.
🧠 Our Mission
CDA Livestock Monitoring Ltd can offer assistance and advice to combat and frustrate criminals who are causing untold misery in our farming community.
It’s impossible to stop criminals entirely, but there are effective ways to protect your livestock.
We are here to help individual farmers, or in the case of issues in our national parks or commonage, we can create a solution where groups of interested parties can come together to jointly monitor and protect their livestock.
🔒 Theft Prevention
By placing a GPS device around the neck of your livestock — sheep, cattle, horses, etc. — you can monitor their location on your phone using our free app or on your laptop.
The number of devices depends on the number of animals that require monitoring, following a risk assessment.
During testing, I found that fitting dummy devices to increase appearance numbers helps. It creates more work for the criminal, making it difficult to identify which device is real.
In consultation with the farmer, CDA Livestock Monitoring Ltd can set GPS position alerts at different times, giving the farmer a wide range of ping times and coverage across large areas of land.
📍 Geo-Fence Alerts
Each GPS device can be set to send alerts when an animal leaves a designated area or enters a preselected area.
This helps prevent theft or wandering animals.
⚠️ Warning Signs
By placing Livestock GPS Monitoring signs on your property, you make it clear that animals are fitted with GPS tracking devices.
This visible warning also acts as a strong deterrent to criminals.
🐕 Dog Attack Alerts
As we all know, dog attacks are horrific.
We have created an alert within our devices that triggers when the animal is running — since sheep and cattle normally do not run.
While this doesn’t solve the problem entirely, it gives the farmer a chance to respond quickly and check their animals’ wellbeing.
🚜 Gate Sensors
If fitting GPS collars is not required or practical, but there is still concern about livestock theft, we recommend our gate sensors.
These small, battery-powered devices are fitted to gates. In consultation with the farmer, we can set alerts if the gate is opened or disturbed during specified hours.
This provides instant notice if someone unlawfully enters the land.
🧰 Tractors, Quads, and Farm Machinery
Our devices are DIY-fit and easy to conceal.
Just like our animal GPS devices, they can be set up for geo-fence alerts and, with health and safety in mind, can send alerts if a vehicle is involved in a collision or overturn.
If the operator is working in a remote area and does not return, the device location can help assist in rescue efforts.
🕵️ In Conclusion
With my background in crime detection and prevention, we are committed to supporting our farmers at any time and offering advice and help whenever required.
Customer or not, we are here to help and listen.
There is no silver bullet to stop criminals engaged in rural crime. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, our police are struggling to prevent and detect these individuals — and we all know they need more resources.
Prevention, visibility, and deterrence are key. I believe that displaying GPS devices openly and using visible signage makes life as difficult as possible for these criminals.
GPS monitoring and alerts give farmers a chance to respond quickly and safely, without direct interference, and to report suspicious activity to the police — giving them a real chance to act.
Beyond security, our devices can also be used to monitor grazing patterns and assist with environmental compliance.
By downloading movement history, farmers can monitor and study the movement and habits of their animals, improving both security and sustainability.
Pat Shannon
Founder, CDA Livestock Monitoring Ltd
