Take The Lead

But the majority of Scots were unaware of the potential repercussions

With the festive season likely to attract an increase of families and dog walkers on wintery walks, farmers have been reminded how best to deal with sheep worrying attacks.

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.

A farmer is calling on his landlord the National Trust to enforce a mandatory ‘dogs on leads’ policy while walking through fields with livestock after loose dogs chased a heavily in-calf cow off a 30ft ledge.

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.

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.

The National Sheep Association (NSA) has urged all sheep farmers to complete its survey on sheep worrying by dogs to help support calls for legal and cultural changes.

Online news and media company LADbible has come under fire for sharing videos of ’naughty’ dogs chasing livestock.

A surge in pet ownership and countryside visitors brought by the Covid-19 pandemic has seen the cost of dog attacks on farm animals rise to £1.3 million, an increase of more than 10 per cent, NFU Mutual has said.

50 in-lamb ewes were smothered and suffocated to death in a horrific dog attack.