Sheep slaughtered by marauding dogs

January 1986

MARAUDING dogs killed 11 sheep and badly injured five more in an attack on a flock last Sunday morning.

The incident occurred at Glencree on the farm of Mr Patsy Quinn who estimated that the losses involved would cost him in excess of £1,000. He described the attack as ‘shocking’ and appealed to people in the area who owned dogs to keep them under tight control to prevent such incidents.

‘It was an appalling thing to see. These animals were simply killing the sheep for pure pleasure and no other reason,’ said Mr Quinn.

Mr Quinn was working on his farm last Sunday morning when he was alerted by neighbours of the attack at 11.45 a.m.

When he arrived in the field where the sheep were grazing, he discovered they were being attacked by two Rottweilers.

‘The annoying thing was that we managed to get them away into a nearby forest and at that stage they had only killed five sheep.

They doubled back and killed more however,’ he said.

Assisted by neighbours, Mr Quinn hunted the dogs and eventually one was shot dead while another was wounded.

‘It all happened in less than an hour and it is incredible the amount of damage that just two dogs can cause in such a short space of time.’

He appealed that in future people should not only control their dogs but should also alert local sheep-farmers when their pets go missing so they could bring the sheep to safety.

Mr Quinn also paid tribute to his neighbours for their help.