Sheep farmer reminds dog walkers ‘there’s a story behind each sheep’ after fifth attack on flock

“There was so much damage – the sheep had lost so much blood. One ewe had her front leg hanging off and another had tucked itself into the hedge, I presume in fear.

“It was just carnage, absolute carnage.”

Mr Jones said the attack came only days after he found a lamb with a neck injury – presuming it a fence cut at the time – only later to discover bite marks.

Problem

He and his wife had already deferred lambing this year due to a previous attack on their rams last Autumn.

“We had our flock on this block of land thinking they were fairly safe there with no footpaths,” he added. “But there is a block of forestry at the back which is quite a hotspot with dog walkers.

“Apparently there is a problem in the area – one of our neighbours got hit on in the early hours of the morning a few days ago and the police suspect it is three guys with two dogs going round doing it for fun.”

The outcome of the attacks, Mr Jones said, often went far further than dead livestock.

He slammed dog walkers for ‘not realising [you] have a story behind most of the sheep’.

He added: “As the farmer you know them individually but other people just think it is a field of sheep.

“My wife asked me the other day if it was really worth us keeping going with our sheep because every time we get back on our feet our flock gets attacked again.

“It is worrying because of the amount of people who say ‘oh he’s just playing!’. They are not playing – put your dog on a lead!”.