Hillside carnage as crazed dogs kill 32 sheep

A FARMER told of his heartbreak yesterday after discovering a massacre of his sheep on his land.

David Morrison found two dogs standing over the corpse of a sheep, with many other dead ewes dotting a hillside on his farm.

The farmer said he had lost 32 sheep – all of them in-lamb – worth up to £60,000.

The attack is the latest and most horrific in a catalogue of sheep-worrying incidents.

Latest Scottish Government figures show the attacks are happening at the rate of one every two days – almost twice the rate two years ago. They form part of a rural crime wave which, as the Mail reports today, many in the countryside believe Police Scotland is not doing enough to tackle.

Mr Morrison, of Dalwyne Blackies farm in Girvan, Ayrshire, was greeted with the gruesome scenes when he went to feed the ewes. A trail of dead and badly maimed sheep marked the progress of the attack, which left 15 killed outright, 17 fatally wounded and nine injured.

Posting on Facebook, Mr Morrison shared some distressing images of the carnage and wrote: ‘My heart is bloody broken, having to gather up dead ewes, and hold ewes while the vet has to put them down.’

He added: ‘I found two dogs standing over a ewe they had killed. One bared its teeth at me and the other tried to attack me on the quad bike. If I hadn’t been on the quad I really think that I’d have been lying on the hill along with my dead ewes.’

Police were last night still trying to trace the dogs. One is thought to be a grey lurcher and the other a tan and black rottweiler.

Sergeant Alan McDowall of Police Scotland said: ‘We are aware that livestock worrying has previously been under-reported and that farmers can be reluctant to contact police. Please do not hesitate to contact us with your concerns. We investigate every reported case of livestock worrying.’