Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘Dogs aren’t to blame for awful farm massacre their owner is’
A farmer who lost almost 30 sheep in a “massacre” by two bloodthirsty dogs says she blames their owner for the heartbreaking attack.
More than 60 of Verity Garrett’s flock were discovered either dead or injured at Elbridge Farm in Canterbury after they were mauled by an alsatian and an akita puppy left running loose.
But she says the fault lies not with the dogs but the man responsible for them, who has now been ordered to pay £5,000 compensation.
Mrs Garrett says the attack at Elbridge Farm on April 22 this year, which left the akita physically exhausted, was the “worst day of her career”. Horrific details of the ordeal were recounted as Patrick Maughan appeared before magistrates charged with being a person in charge of a dog worrying livestock. The court was told Mrs Garrett was alerted to the tragedy by one of her farm workers, who noticed some sheep had escaped from a field into neighbouring land. Prosecutor Julie Farbrace said he discovered two dogs in the field they had fled from, along with dozens of dead or injured sheep.
She added: “One dog (the akita) was quite distinctive and had a white tip on its tail. He managed to get it on the back of his pick-up truck. The dog was exhausted.”
Ms Farbrace said one ewe and 27 lambs died in the attack or were so badly injured they had to be put down afterwards. She added it took farm workers seven hours to assess all of the sheep in the field, with staff working solidly for 48 hours to nurse and clean wounds on a further 33 lambs and two ewes also injured.
Mrs Farbrace said: “Verity Garrett said the discovery that so many animals had been killed was the worst day of her career as she had a moral responsibly to ensure the animals’ safety and said it would be accurate to describe it as a massacre.
“She could hear the injured lambs and ewes bleating to each other to try and find each other and said she had no idea how long the attacks had gone on in the field.
“She doesn’t blame the dog, she blames the owner, as she lost so many animals in just a few hours. They were wiped out and it was emotionally distressing.”
The akita puppy was seized by police officers called to the scene and later destroyed after it was found not to be microchipped. The alsatian ran off and has not been recovered. Mrs Garrett was so horrified by events that she shared a picture of the akita on a local Facebook page in the hope of tracking down its owner.
She later received an anonymous tip-off and passed the information to police, who attended Maughan’s home at a caravan site in Well Lane, Fordwich.
The 52-year-old admitted he had been “looking after the dogs”, telling officers they had been abandoned six weeks before by Romanians who had been living on his land. However, he said the dogs had gone missing, with police finding no trace of the alsatian at the site and Maughan claiming to have no idea where it was. He was interviewed about the attack and gave a prepared statement, again reiterating that the dogs had been abandoned on his land and he had been feeding them as he was an animal lover.
He said he was shocked to learn what had happened to the sheep and promised to compensate the farmer as best as he could.
When asked further questions by police during the interview, Maughan made no further comment.
He was charged and appeared before magistrates on Thursday, where he initially asked for the case to be adjourned as he was still awaiting legal aid.
But when told he may not receive the funding and that the maximum penalty for the offence was a fine, he pleaded guilty, while continuing to deny he owned the dogs. He told the court he had no income or savings as he usually worked in landscaping, but had some health issues and had been forced to sell some horses to survive.
As a result, magistrates decided not to issue a fine or any court costs, but told Maughan he would have to compensate the farm to the value of £5,000, which he will pay back at £200 a month. The money will cover some of the costs incurred by the Little
‘Verity Garrett said the discovery that so many animals had been killed was the worst day of her career...’
bourne farm’s owners, EH Holdstock and Son, which had to shell out thousands of pounds in vet bills, medication and extra labour, on top of the £1,770 loss suffered through the death of 28 sheep. Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Garrett - who lost nine sheep in a similar dog attack in 2019 - said that while the financial
compensation is important, she hopes the prosecution will act as a warning to others. "Of course, it was an expensive loss for us but this is not the first time our sheep have been attacked,” she said. "Dogs, even small ones, think of fluffy little lambs as toys to be played with by chasing and biting, but it causes them huge
distress which can often result in their deaths,” she said. "And it's truly heartbreaking to see because we put so much effort into their care and welfare. I see so many dogs out in the countryside off their leads but I hope this case sends out a message to dog owners that they must keep them under control."