Dog attacks are a menace we need to get a handle on

To say the UK has some of the most rigorous animal health and welfare standards in the world, our record on dog attacks on livestock is shameful.

Thanks to the recent surge in dog ownership and a seemingly blasé attitude among dog owners with an aversion to using a lead, attacks are happening daily, with the consequences leaving a lasting financial and emotional burden on farming businesses and their families.

It also flies in the face of our reputation for being a nation of animal lovers.

As our story over p1 and p6 shows, it is not just livestock that are being maimed and killed. Dogs are suffering too.

What’s more, we know there is an easy fix and it is a discussion I have had with walkers in livestock fields countless times – walking a dog on a lead does not hamper yours or your dog’s enjoyment. It garners a range of responses.

The National Sheep Association, which joined forces with Farmers Guardian’s Take the Lead initiative in 2014 and has actively campaigned on the issue ever since, is right that more needs to be done on a legislative level to tackle the scourge, especially when countryside access in general is being so hotly debated. 

The delayed Kept Animals Bill (England) is an ideal opportunity to overhaul outdated legislation and bring some protection to livestock farmers, giving police more powers to clamp down on owners at fault, destroy the dogs involved and compensate farmers for their losses.

Importantly, increased fines such as those seen in a refresh of Scotland’s Protection of Livestock (Amendment) (Scotland) Act, may hopefully act as a deterrent to dog owners, or at least make them stop and think.

But Governments can go even further. As a minimum, they could ensure all instances of livestock worrying are classed as a recordable offence by police, make it incumbent on forces to train officers in how to deal with these crimes and use the data from microchipped animals to trace owners using dog DNA.

Perhaps this latest Governmental delay is a good thing and when it emerges, the Kept Animals Bill will have some teeth.