CASE STUDY: PAUL THORP, CALDERDALE
Dog attacks have wreaked havoc on Paul Thorp’s 1,200ewe flock for 30 years – including 35 killed in one attack.
Paul and his wife Jill farm on the moors and valleys of West Yorkshire near Ripponden.
His farm is known to millions as it sits between the two carriageways of the M62 where the motorway splits into two on a steep Pennines hillside.
The latest attack on his flock was at Christmas, when Jill was out checking the flock with her seven-year-old son, and found one sheep already dead and another horribly injured.
“The attack left my son absolutely devastated,” said Paul. “He saw the horrific injuries that the dog attack had left. The sheep was so badly mauled that it had to be put down.
“It’s was an appalling experience for a child who has grown up on a family farm where we are out with the sheep every day. It’s something that’s going to be etched on his mind for a long time.
“Over the years, dog attacks have hit us hard for a while and then died down again, before returning. This year though, twice the number of
people are out with their dogs in our fields, and we’re seeing many more dog owners who let their pets roam off lead, and clearly can’t get them to come back to them.
“A lot of people just don’t seem to understand that it’s a dog’s instinct to chase sheep, and that even if they don’t attack, the stress can lead to ewes losing their lambs.
“Recently, I politely asked a man who was in the middle of a field, way off the footpath, to put his dogs on a lead and got a lot of abuse in return.
In a very aggressive rant, he said there was no way his dogs should be on a lead when my sheep dogs weren’t!
“It gets very hard to be civil to people walking on your land when you get abuse like that.
“I entirely understand why so many people are out walking in the countryside at the moment – and that’s absolutely fine, as long as they keep their dogs under control.
“It’s just the small number of people who don’t keep their dogs under control who are responsible for these attacks.”