Dogs That Attack Sheep

[CornishLleyn]

Also, it's all very well complaining about solicitors defending dangerous dog claims, but when you've had a cyclist coming into your yard and (luckily witnessed by three people) repeatedly kick a collie to the point where the collie bit, and then call the police and try and claim the dog was out on the road, you realise that good solicitors work both ways.

 

[GTB]

Also, it's all very well complaining about solicitors defending dangerous dog claims, but when you've had a cyclist coming into your yard and (luckily witnessed by three people) repeatedly kick a collie to the point where the collie bit, and then call the police and try and claim the dog was out on the road, you realise that good solicitors work both ways.

We had a cyclist cursing "bloody farmers, leaving their dogs out" one day but our dogs were lying by the house minding their own business... until I shouted "dal e" (catch him). Never seen anyone pedal so fast in my life. That'll teach him.

 

[Longlowdog]

Everyone has a right to a dog, they need serve no greater part than to be a companion, any other function is a bonus. However with every right comes a responsibility. In this case it is simply to ensure that it is not a burden to anyone else. Sheep worrying, barking, crapping in public areas should all be clamped down on. Fines and criminal records would create over time a new breed of dog owner. Can you imagine the lawyer or doctor or unemployed person filling out a job application and being forced to declare they had a criminal record for anti-social behaviour? An A.S.B.O because of your dog....how long would your application remain in the pile of likely candidates? And in the meantime you'd be paying off a fine. Word would get out and over time attitudes would change. Nothing ever changes overnight except the date so patience would be required but in the meantime we need the Police and the courts to robustly uphold the current law.

 

[CornishLleyn]

This thread has a lot of good ideas, but the sad fact is the ever growing Jeremy Kyle underclass can't even be made to look after their kids, never mind dogs.

Court fines will mean nothing when the social workers get to write the reports and poor Wayne and Waynetta may have to give up sky and fags. They can't even collect the usual range of fines from them.

The other option is to change the law so we can shoot the owner rather than the dog.

 

[rhifsaith]

We had a cyclist cursing "bloody farmers, leaving their dogs out" one day but our dogs were lying by the house minding their own business... until I shouted "dal e" (catch him). Never seen anyone pedal so fast in my life. That'll teach him.

Any chance you can not say that tomorrow?
About 10 o'clock I'll buy you a pint

 

[Gulli]

Everyone has a right to a dog, they need serve no greater part than to be a companion, any other function is a bonus. However with every right comes a responsibility. In this case it is simply to ensure that it is not a burden to anyone else. Sheep worrying, barking, crapping in public areas should all be clamped down on. Fines and criminal records would create over time a new breed of dog owner. Can you imagine the lawyer or doctor or unemployed person filling out a job application and being forced to declare they had a criminal record for anti-social behaviour? An A.S.B.O because of your dog....how long would your application remain in the pile of likely candidates? And in the meantime you'd be paying off a fine. Word would get out and over time attitudes would change. Nothing ever changes overnight except the date so patience would be required but in the meantime we need the Police and the courts to robustly uphold the current law.

No one has a right to own a dog. Or at least it shouldn't be seen that way. It's very much a privilege and should be treated as such

 

[roscoe erf]

Take the dogs away. I've said for a long time that people should require a licence to own a dog.

that worked well in the past

 

[Dry Rot]

No one has a right to own a dog. Or at least it shouldn't be seen that way. It's very much a privilege and should be treated as such

That's what the police say about guns, then use the excuse to remove guns from people for alleged offences that have nothing to do with public safety.

I know of at least one case where the guns have been taken away from a professional gamekeeper because of alleged fraud so he is now deprived of the means by which he makes a living.

Are our rights as citizens not already threatened enough? "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance". Labelling things "a privilege" instantly gives the authorities the right to act without resource to the courts and to a legal system. That's how Hitler got to power.

 

[CornishLleyn]

Haha, Hitler mentioned. Argument lost.

Godwins' law strikes again.

 

[Gulli]

That's what the police say about guns, then use the excuse to remove guns from people for alleged offences that have nothing to do with public safety.

I know of at least one case where the guns have been taken away from a professional gamekeeper because of alleged fraud so he is now deprived of the means by which he makes a living.

Are our rights as citizens not already threatened enough? "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance". Labelling things "a privilege" instantly gives the authorities the right to act without resource to the courts and to a legal system. That's how Hitler got to power.

If it was seen as a privilege- and it is in my experience a genuine privilege to own and or work with dogs they are incredible animals - and treated as such then people who clearly don't give a toss about their dogs would I think mostly either not keep them as the status symbol they have become or bloody well look after them properly due to public opinion.

It is immensely unfair on dogs to treat them as nothing more than a lifestyle accessory

 

[Dry Rot]

If it was seen as a privilege- and it is in my experience a genuine privilege to own and or work with dogs they are incredible animals - and treated as such then people who clearly don't give a toss about their dogs would I think mostly either not keep them as the status symbol they have become or bloody well look after them properly due to public opinion.

It is immensely unfair on dogs to treat them as nothing more than a lifestyle accessory

I agree absolutely both with what you are saying and the sentiments behind it, but take away what I perceive as a right and it is I who will bite you, not my dog!

With rights come responsibilities. If dog owners won't train and control their dogs, there are laws to see that they do. If those laws are not enforced, guess who is at fault? Why, those very authorities you now tell me should be given more power!

If the authorities do not use the powers they already have by gathering the evidence and taking offenders to court, it is our politicians who are fault. We elect them to see that our public servants do their job.

Yippee! There's an election coming up and we all have the chance to do something about it. It's called democrasy. Write to your MP and ask what he/she is going to do about the dog problem, then vote accordingly.

 

[Gulli]

I agree absolutely both with what you are saying and the sentiments behind it, but take away what I perceive as a right and it is I who will bite you, not my dog!

With rights come responsibilities. If dog owners won't train and control their dogs, there are laws to see that they do. If those laws are not enforced, guess who is at fault? Why, those very authorities you now tell me should be given more power!

If the authorities do not use the powers they already have by gathering the evidence and taking offenders to court, it is our politicians who are fault. We elect them to see that our public servants do their job.

Yippee! There's an election coming up and we all have the chance to do something about it. It's called democrasy. Write to your MP and ask what he/she is going to do about the dog problem, then vote accordingly.

It's a bit difficult to vote for no one and still voice your opinion though. Too many voters of the opinion that they should be allowed a dog to do as they please with means politicians have no interest in rocking the boat.

 

[Dry Rot]

It's a bit difficult to vote for no one and still voice your opinion though. Too many voters of the opinion that they should be allowed a dog to do as they please with means politicians have no interest in rocking the boat.

The laws are already on the statute books so the politicians have done something. It is the enforcement that is at fault. We've seen more than one post on here where there have been witnesses to sheep worrying, the incident has been reported, and the police still do nothing.

 

[Dry Rot]

Here you go, rather than grumbling here, do something about it! They get scored according to whether they reply and how often!

https://www.writetothem.com/

 

[Osca]

the case studies on that website are horrifying!! one of them 'bit someone causing a quite serious injury' 'we successfully argued the proceedings were invalid' what hope is there for sheep?!

But the other cases on there are also rather shocking. A dog handed to a rescue in her owner's absence and unlawfully kept; a bit like the business with the RSPCA and that poor nurse's pets a while ago; another dog which looked like a pit-bull - even if it wasn't one. The owners clearly needed a bit of legal support. Surely it would have been irresponsible ownership in those cases not to try to save your animal, with legal help if necessary?

As to irresponsible townies letting their dogs attack sheep - plenty of them, yes, but the worst livestock worrier I have seen was a bored farm collie. A very clever dog, it knew just what it was doing and also that it shouldn't be doing it. It showed no sign of aggression towards stock if anyone was watching and would even play nicely with the family's Shetland pony, chasing and being chased; but given no work and allowed too much freedom it would spend the night running stock into the ground, cutting out an animal and driving it to exhaustion before closing in on it. It was eventually caught in the act, but it's (farmer) owner wouldn't believe his dog was responsible.So if you don't know what dog is causing you problems, don't rule out the working dogs next door...

 

[Longlowdog]

It is a right to own a dog, as it is a cat or a horse. As a shepherd is it your right to own a working dog or as P.E.T.A would suggest are you subjugating a canine that should be running free or not even exist in their Utopian world of fluffy animals living without the interference of the hand of man? I have chosen an extreme view I admit but an extreme view is just a forceful opinion as is yours. As has been repeatedly stated, the laws are there to protect livestock, all that is missing is the will and possibly the funding for rural issues to enforce them. I'm sure 95% of police officers or their superiors couldn't pick a quarter of a million quid Texel tup from a field of my Beltex ewes, and thus require education to make them aware of the fiscal and emotional consequences of a dog attack on sheep. Officers can, without training empathise with the victims of more common crime as it is part of human nature. Rural issues, dog attacks, poaching, coursing, etc require training and understanding to deal them. Wildlife Crime Officers receive some but even they are often ignorant of the most basic aspects of rural life.
I'm sure every constabulary would love to have an exemplary record of dealing with rural crime but when the funds don't let them have the man power for urban crime clearance against bleeding human victims then we will take a back seat. To ban the old man who walks his only companion ( his only reason to rise in the morning and his last thought at night) through the park where I work from owning a dog because some moron, (against the law) allowed his dog to attack sheep is ludicrous.
P.s, the old man's dog is called Moss. I speak to him and Moss every day. It gives me pleasure, it makes him smile and the world seems a better place for having both of them in it. Think on before you restrict dogs to the privileged few.

 

[GTB]

Any chance you can not say that tomorrow?
About 10 o'clock I'll buy you a pint

I'm expecting a pint from every cyclist who went past this morning. It'll be like going to a beer festival.

 

[rhifsaith]

I'm expecting a pint from every cyclist who went past this morning. It'll be like going to a beer festival.

Fair few did that climb today. Lovely day for it as well. Pint of milk do you?

 

[Gulli]

It is a right to own a dog, as it is a cat or a horse. As a shepherd is it your right to own a working dog or as P.E.T.A would suggest are you subjugating a canine that should be running free or not even exist in their Utopian world of fluffy animals living without the interference of the hand of man? I have chosen an extreme view I admit but an extreme view is just a forceful opinion as is yours. As has been repeatedly stated, the laws are there to protect livestock, all that is missing is the will and possibly the funding for rural issues to enforce them. I'm sure 95% of police officers or their superiors couldn't pick a quarter of a million quid Texel tup from a field of my Beltex ewes, and thus require education to make them aware of the fiscal and emotional consequences of a dog attack on sheep. Officers can, without training empathise with the victims of more common crime as it is part of human nature. Rural issues, dog attacks, poaching, coursing, etc require training and understanding to deal them. Wildlife Crime Officers receive some but even they are often ignorant of the most basic aspects of rural life.
I'm sure every constabulary would love to have an exemplary record of dealing with rural crime but when the funds don't let them have the man power for urban crime clearance against bleeding human victims then we will take a back seat. To ban the old man who walks his only companion ( his only reason to rise in the morning and his last thought at night) through the park where I work from owning a dog because some moron, (against the law) allowed his dog to attack sheep is ludicrous.
P.s, the old man's dog is called Moss. I speak to him and Moss every day. It gives me pleasure, it makes him smile and the world seems a better place for having both of them in it. Think on before you restrict dogs to the privileged few.

I suspect that the old man views moss' s companionship as a privilege (not in the legal sense which is I think where I'm being misunderstood here) as I do with my dogs.

 

[suma]

Indiscriminate breeding, wholly unsuitable breeds sold to wholly unsuitable owners who lack the wherewithal to train their dog, and the poor dog spends most of its miserable life shut in the house or yard, and then taken to the playground to get rid of its frustrations on what ever it comes across first.

If the police wont do anything to take these dog owners to prosecution, then the R$PCA should, allowing your dog to worry sheep while out of your control is a breech of animal welfare regulations. It is about bloomin time it was treated as the serious crime it has become. Someone somewhere needs to take and show some responsibility.
Until every dog which has attacked is put to sleep, no one will sit up and take notice.

It is already a crinimal offence. the problem is getting the police to prosicute. we had 21 dog attacks on sheep in 2015 and 4 in 2016 so far only 1 this year.and yes i do shoot to kill if poss,record so far was 7 dogs in one go . thay chased two sheep into a derelict celler, and we got there before thay got out of the celler.this is why in oct i will stop sheep farming.