Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Calls to toughen sheep attack laws
NEW legislation passing through Parliament which aims to improve animal welfare offers a “prime opportunity” to crack down on sheep worrying attacks by dogs, farmers have said.
As the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill winds its way through the legislative process, the National Sheep Association (NSA) is urging ministers to take advantage of the proposed policy to bring “muchneeded action” on the issue, which is hugely distressing for farmers both in terms of emotional impact and financial costs.
The organisation, which represents the views and interests of sheep producers throughout the UK, said it has recently received a spate of reports, highlighting a “worrying increase” in the number of attacks causing “untold stress and significant animal welfare concerns”.
For Government to “continually ignore” the stressful impact of dog attacks not only on sheep welfare – and the mental welfare of farmers and keepers as a result – is therefore “ludicrous”, it adds.
Phil Stocker, chief executive of the
NSA from Gloucestershire, said: “Simply including the instruction for dogs to be on a lead when in the proximity of, or likely to come into contact with grazing livestock, would reduce these terrible incidents and by increasing the fines would act as a deterrent for irresponsible dog owners who do not keep their dogs under control.”
The NSA said a number of disturbing cases reported recently include sheep killed by a train after a dog chased them onto a railway line, while another saw the RSPCA being alerted when a sheep was chased off a cliff by a dog.
Sheep worrying by dogs is a serious issue for farmers, often resulting in injuries and even death of affected sheep. During January and February and moving into spring, ewes are likely to be carrying lambs meaning the consequences can be felt even more keenly with heavily pregnant ewes then at risk of miscarriage due to stress.
According to claims statistics from
NFU Mutual last year, livestock worrying cost the South West region an estimated £185,000 in 2020. Across the UK, the cost of dog attacks rose by more than 10% to an estimated £1.3 million. Furthermore, a survey of dog owners conducted by the rural insurer found that only 18% of those surveyed would call the police if they saw a dog chasing or attacking livestock, and only 15% would report it to the farmer.
South Devon sheep farmer Rich Rossiter, whose flock grazes the fields and clifftops of one of the south coast’s most popular areas, has been greatly affected by sheep worrying over the years.
He said: “We are faced with sheep having been chased off cliffs, into roads, pushed into cattle grids and physically attacked by dogs whose owners don’t believe their animals are capable of such things. This is easy to stop – keep dogs on leads. It is not difficult and it is what a responsible dog owner would do.”
The NSA said it applauds the current action being taken in Scotland to strengthen penalties for attacks to include large fines.