CLA South East is urging dog owners to understand their responsibilities and the law following reports of livestock being badly injured and killed during the lambing season.
Lambing season is a busy time of year for our farmers, and livestock worrying can have serious effects on animals including stress, injury and abortion. Sheep do not cope well with stressful situations and can even die from shock days after the event.
In recent years there have been a number of incidents involving sheep and dogs on the Isle of Wight, including in July 2017, May 2018, June 2018, September 2018, late September 2018, February 2019 and April 2019. In addition, 5 deer were killed on the outskirts of Newport towards the end of last year.
So the CLA South East, which represents thousands of landowners, farmers and rural businesses in Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and the Isle of Wight, is offering advice to dog owners to help avoid problems this season.
Rural Adviser Megan Lock said:
“We would advise owners to keep their dogs under close control when walking through fields of livestock, particularly sheep at this time of year, and to always stick to public rights of ways.
“If you live near land with livestock in it, ensure that you know where your dog is at all times, make sure your property is secure and check dogs can’t escape at any time.
“It is the owner’s responsibility to keep their dog under control and we are also raising awareness about the potential consequences of not doing so. Livestock worrying is a criminal offence and a fine of £1,000 can be handed out.
Article continues below this advertisement “It is important that every instance of livestock worrying is reported to the police. This will allow for a more accurate picture of the scale of the problem to be built up and assist the police and Government to determine what resources and powers are required in order to effectively tackle the problem.”
Where a dog is in the act of worrying livestock and there is, or is likely to be serious damage to those livestock, call police on 999. Alternatively, dial 101 to report an incident where the dogs are no longer present after an attack or to report problem dog behaviour. Photographs and videos of the worrying incident and/or the damage it caused can be extremely useful.
I am a proud dog owner and also pride our beautiful island. Totally in agreement that we have to respect the land that we walk thru and it’s livestock inhabitants, especially when pregnant. However, its lovely to let a dog be a dog, to run, sniff, roll in the sunshine, enjoy a good game of ball. Hard to do on a lead: you wouldn’t take a child to a play park and keep them attached to them child harness things.
Suggestion: as lots of fields can be vast and undulating, it can be difficult to spot if its occupied. (I’ve been surprised by many a cow). Could it not be reasonable to ask livestock owners to pop a sign either on styles/kissing gates or entry/exit points that the public footpath runs through, to state the area you are about to forebode is currently occupied. I take my binoculars but its not always perfect. This way a dog owner can make the right judgement whether to release their dog or not.
Extra effort over expense, but would benefit both parties surely.
I quite agree with you ,regarding livestock owners putting up signs at the entrances. I’m sure the cost and effort to Farmers must far out weigh the loss of livestock due to dog attacks.
I’ve walked my 2 dogs off lead in a steep hilly field for many years, where on the odd occasion a herd of cattle have grazed.
This year however, I suddenly encountered a flock of sheep. My dogs went on the lead immediately,and no harm was done. Dread to think of what might have happened.