#FGTaketheLead top tips: Enjoy the countryside this Easter - but keep your dog on a lead

If you plan on bringing your four-legged friend to enjoy the delights of the great British countryside this Easter here is what NFU Mutual advises you to do.

clock • 1 min read
#FGTaketheLead top tips: Enjoy the countryside this Easter - but keep your dog on a lead

With many dog owners planning to visit the countryside at a time when sheep and lambs are at their most vulnerable, NFU Mutual is calling for them to:

  • Keep dogs on a lead when walking in rural areas where livestock are kept but let go of the lead if chased by cattle
  • Be aware that all dogs, regardless of size, breed, and temperament, can cause the distress, injury and death of farm animals
  • Report attacks by dogs to the police or local farmers
  • Never let dogs loose unsupervised in gardens near livestock fields - many attacks are caused by dogs which escape and attack sheep grazing nearby

READ NOW: The Countryside Code - advice for countryside visitors

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Take the Lead is a national campaign to raise awareness of placing dogs on a lead near livestock

READ NOW: Livestock worrying costs farmers £2.4 million a year

Free signs warning dog owners to keep their dogs on a lead near livestock are available through Farmers Guardian's Take the Lead campaign, in association with the National Sheep Association.

To request yours, send a stamped self-addressed A4 envelope to: FG Take the Lead, Farmers Guardian, Unit 4, Fulwood Business Park, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 9NZ.

We will be able to send up to 25 signs.

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