Sheep worrying

The Association of Responsible Dog Owners has called for the Welsh Government’s ban on e-collars to be lifted, following the publication of data which laid bare the extent of sheep worrying in Wales.

Cuts to police budgets could leave forces unable to enforce the Government’s crackdown on livestock worrying, according to Labour’s Shadow Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner.

A farmer has urged the public to report any unsupervised dogs, or incidents of dogs attacking sheep, after 29 sheep were killed in recent attacks.

Nottinghamshire Police have launched an appeal to catch the people responsible for the ’brutal slaughter’ of 18 lambs in a ’savage’ dog attack, which were discovered dead or seriously injured by a distraught Warsop farmer.

The animal welfare charity has renewed its call for dog owners to be more responsible and keep their dogs on leads near livestock after two separate incidents within a week.

Amending Government legislation can be like turning an oil tanker around – slow, frustrating, sometimes impossible.

Police dealt with more than 1,100 incidents of sheep worrying in 2020, up from 800 in 2019, with some forces called out to multiple attacks each week.

As I write, the tourists are back in the village and the streets and footpaths are once again teeming with day trippers making the most of the spring sunshine.

Farming bodies have called for further promotion of the Countryside Code to help tackle increasing ’anti-social behaviour’ incidents which are putting farmers, livestock, wildlife habitats and livelihoods at risk.

Photos of the aftermath of a dog attack which left a number of sheep and a pet dog dead have gone viral after being shared by online media platform LADbible.