Police warning after loose dog kills 13 sheep
POLICE have issued a frank warning to pet owners after 13 sheep died along with their unborn lambs when a dog on the loose chased them to their deaths.
Sergeant Rob Simpson, of the Cheshire Police Rural Crime Team, posted an initial statement on social media on Sunday, February 28, to say enquiries were under way into a livestock worrying incident in fields near Sutton Hall Golf Club on Aston Lane in Sutton Weaver on the outskirts of Runcorn.
The shocking attack occurred on Thursday, February 25.
Sgt Simpson said the sheep died when they were chased into ditches.
To stress the scale of the problem in recent months, the post was accompanied by a gruesome gallery of sheep that have been mauled to death by dogs in separate incidents.
Sgt Simpson warned pet owners that a legal defence exists for farmers to shoot dogs that chase livestock, as he added “two dogs have sadly lost their lives in recent times” in Cheshire.
An update posted on Monday, March 1, revealed the sheep were all “heavily pregnant with twins” and a red-coated dog had been seen chasing them.
Officers were keen to speak to its owner.
Sgt Simpson said: “We’d like to speak to the owner of the ‘red’ coloured dog that was seen to be chasing the sheep in the fields off the A56 near to Sutton Hall Golf Club site (between Frodsham and
Sutton Weaver) at 9am.
“Someone knows the dog and owner involved.
“Please contact 101 if you are the dog owner or if you know who the dog owner is.”
Anyone with any information about the appalling incident should call Cheshire police on 101, quoting IML 926855, or leave information anonymously with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Readers may recall an appeal issued by the RSPCA in August last year after a dog off its lead savaged two sheep to death and left three more injured in a horrific attack in a farmer’s field in an unidentified location in Runcorn.