- Ex-Carlton player charged with stealing cattle in Victoria
A footy star who was once on the books of Carlton has been charged with stealing cattle – and it comes after he pleaded guilty to 72 animal cruelty and neglect charges last year.
Joseph Dare, 34, joined the Blues during the 2010 Rookie Draft but failed to play a senior game.
On April 20, Dare was charged with theft, obtaining property by deception and offences under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
It is alleged the cattle – believed to be worth up to $80,000 – were stolen from a property in Victoria’s southwest between February 19 and February 25.
The livestock was recovered in March at an abattoir in Tongala, located in the Goulburn Valley region of northern Victoria, more than 300km from the McCorkells Road farm they allegedly were taken from.
Police also rescued the cattle shortly before they were scheduled for slaughter.
Joseph Dare (pictured), who was once on the books of Carlton, has been charged with stealing cattle in Victoria
On April 20, Dare was charged with theft, obtaining property by deception and offences under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act
It is alleged cattle worth up to $80,000 were stolen from a property in Victoria’s southwest between February 19 and February 25, before being located more than 300km away
‘The cows are safe and will be returned to their owner,’ a police spokesperson told News Corp.
Police are still investigating a December 2025 theft where 36 cattle, a mix of breeds worth about $60,000, went missing from a farm on the same road in Pirron Yallock.
Following his failed stint at Carlton, Dare returned to local leagues in south-west Victoria, playing for Cobden and Colac, before coaching at Alvie.
He owned and managed approximately 1300 cattle on multiple properties in the region between 2022 and 2024.
In relation to the 72 animal cruelty charges, Magistrate Franz Holzer said it was ‘one of the worst examples of animal neglect’ he had ever seen.
He convicted the dairy farmer and fined Dare $75,000 for the offences in 2025.
The Colac Magistrates Court heard accounts of how livestock had both suffered and died on Dare’s farm in Dreeite.
The charges levied included allegations that Dare had not provided appropriate care, treatment or attention to the animals and had also failed to provide his livestock with sufficient food.
Some of the animals were suffering from issues including lung disease, pneumonia, starvation, dehydration and trauma.
Dare was banned from owning cattle for 10 years, with one officer at the scene describing the cows as ‘walking skeletons’.
During sentencing, Magistrate Holzer also labelled Dare’s farm ‘animal killing fields’.
‘He got animals that were unwell and then neglected them even further… that’s just shameful,’ he said.
Dare is set to next face court in August.
