Irresponsible dog walkers costing farmers thousands

The National Sheep Association says it is impossible to discover the true number of attacks because many go unreported but it estimates that the incidents stretch into the thousands each year.

To better understanding why and how attacks happen, the association has analysed 100 attacks from the last 12 months. Its data shows more than half of attacks happened when dog walkers trespassed onto private, enclosed fields with no footpath. Up to 72 sheep were injured in one attack and 30 killed in another with an average of 3.2 sheep injured and four sheep killed per attack.

In addition to distress at the damage, farmers suffered huge financial costs which spiralled as high as £17,000. On average, sheep farmers lost £1,580 per incident.

Phil Stocker, the NSA’s chief executive, said: “With 52 per cent of cases involving just one dog, it goes to show that a single animal does not need any encouragement from other dogs to cause a great deal of damage.

“I know it is not nice to think your pet can be violent, but attacking sheep is an instinct that goes back tens of thousands of years – so however passive you consider your dog to be under usual circumstances, it is vital you keep him or her on a lead at all times around livestock and stick to public footpaths.”

Worrying by dogs can cause abortion in ewes, birthing difficulties at lambing time and abandonment of young lambs by their mothers, while fleeing sheep cause damage to fences or break through onto a road in their panic.

Blood from injuries can attract flies and cause infections, and with the cost of veterinary bills and the disruption caused to the timing of taking lambs and ewes to market, a dog attack could make the difference between profit and loss for a family business, Mr Stocker said.

A spokesman for the RSPCA added: “Our message for dog owners is to keep their dogs under control, ideally on a lead, especially near livestock and especially at this time of year what with the lambing or with other young livestock being born.”

To report a dog wandering freely that seems to be worrying sheep and without an owner nearby, call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.