Warning over increase in livestock attacks by dogs

The most recent attack was on 21st January with a previous one on 22nd November. The financial loss of each ewe is estimated to be between £200 and £300.

Tim Price, Rural Affairs Specialist at NFU Mutual, says: “We are all too aware of the heart-break and huge financial loss that dog attacks cause to farmers. The majority of dog owners act responsibly and ensure that their dogs are always kept under control and on a lead when near livestock but a small minority either don’t know their responsibilities or simply do not care that their pet can inflict the most terrible injuries on livestock – which can often result in death.”

Under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, if a dog worries sheep on agricultural land, the person in charge of the dog is guilty of an offence. The Act considers sheep worrying to include attacking sheep, chasing them in a way that may cause injury, suffering, abortion or loss of produce or being at large (not on a lead or otherwise under close control) in a field or enclosure in which there are sheep.