After 40 chickens, six pigs and tools worth thousands of dollars were stolen from his free-range farm, Melvin Burns offered an unusual reward for tips about the crime: two kilograms of bacon.
The owner of Moo Nay Farms in Cooks Brook, N.S., took his meaty offer to Facebook last Wednesday. He said anyone who offers up information leading to the return of his tools or proof of who took them will get a hefty cut of his next round of Berkshire bacon. The post has been shared nearly 1,200 times.
Offering up the bacon in lieu of money seemed like a natural move given the cost of the stolen equipment and animals, he said.
“Our currency is bacon,” he said. “It’s the most valuable thing we have on our farm really. It’s the thing that everybody wants.”
The stolen tools include an 18-volt driver and charger, a 20-volt driver, a grinder, two 20-volt chargers and a 20-volt drill, all made by DeWalt.
A Pittsburgh brand socket set was also stolen. Burns figures that may be the best clue to identify the thieves, since he says the tools are not available in Canada.
While the bacon offer has not cooked up any leads so far, it has helped bring the community even closer together as residents deal with a spate of thefts in the area.
Burns said neighbours are helping out by checking in on his property when he can’t be there to keep an eye on it.
“For a neighbour to message and say, ‘Hey, I just wanted to let you know I was driving by your farm. I stopped in, and everything looks fine,’ that was pretty amazing,” he said.
In his Facebook post, Burns expressed empathy for whoever is stealing from him. He even said he is willing to hire those responsible to do odd jobs around the farm.
“If you need money and are close to our farm, offer your labour, offer your time constructively,” he wrote. “It can earn you money, respect and a future in the community as opposed to behind bars.”
With a report from CTV’s Todd Battis
