Killer dogs, irresponsible ownership?

[ajcc]

I been reading just this weekend of a certain farmer and his shepherd making a point in no uncertain terms. Somewhere down Sussex, Kent , Romney marsh area!!! If I were more tech minded I could find and link the article and join up the dots......The name looks familiar @Frank-the-Wool

 

[It was already broken.]

Think this might be to one @ajcc. No point putting a link as The Times is a subscription service. So I copied the article. Obviously other newspapers may have carried the same story.


They call it sheep worrying. But as Frank Langrish surveyed the carnage in his field, that term seemed horrifically inadequate. Six of his flock lay dead while another eight were so severely injured they would have to be put down.

The culprits, an alsatian and an akita cross, were still on the loose after hours of terrorising the sheep.

He and his shepherd didn’t hesitate. They aimed their guns and shot both dogs. But that wasn’t the end of it. Mr Langrish wanted to do more. He decided to send a message to the person he held responsible for the bloodshed unleashed on his flock. So he loaded the dogs’ bodies on to the back of his Land Rover and drove the short distance to Fairlight Hall, a Gothic mansion near Hastings in East Sussex.

There, he dumped them on the lawn and demanded to speak to David Kowitz, the American hedge fund millionaire and master of the animals.

Local farmers say they have been living in fear of Mr Kowitz’s dogs for years. In 2012 two of his alsatians were put down after they killed 23 sheep. In December last year four ewes were said to have been killed at a time when dogs from Fairlight Hall had been reported missing. The farmers accuse Mr Kowitz of failing to take sufficient steps to control his dogs, despite knowing the risks they posed. They want him prosecuted and to face restrictions on owning dogs.

Mr Langrish, 66, who confronted Mr Kowitz last month, said the millionaire eventually came out of the house to speak to him.

The dogs that attacked the sheep had escaped Fairlight Hall, in East Sussex, after an alleged contaiment failureJIM HOLDEN; RED KITE FILMS
Although Mr Langrish had traced the owner by a collar on one of the animals, he asked whether the dogs were his. Mr Kowitz, he said, replied: “I suppose so” and showed no emotion at seeing the bodies on the lawn.

Later, the millionaire, 55, apologised in a letter in which he blamed guests for letting the dogs out.

He wrote: “Our containment system failed on a night of major activity at the house — and before we could complete our plans to rehome the dogs. We keep dogs for our security but failed you by not ensuring they were not mistakenly released by house guests. Our sincere apologies.”

Mr Langrish said he had taken the dead dogs to Fairlight Hall because he was returning Mr Kowitz’s property and also wanted to send him a message.

“We know he has been responsible over the last few years for various dog attacks in that area,” he said.

He said Mr Kowitz used to have sheep of his own and they had also been attacked by his dogs. He was particularly concerned at Mr Kowitz’s comment about rehoming the dogs as he knew of other owners who had given away pets after an attack only for them to savage livestock in another area.

He said such animals should be put down because “once they have done it, they will do it again”.

Calling such attacks “sheep worrying” understated the horror of what happened on farms across the country when people failed to control their dogs, he said. “It is the savaging of defenceless animals which is going on night and day around the UK.”

Frank Langrish lost a number of sheep in the attack
Tim Jury, the farmer who lost 23 sheep in the 2012 incident involving Mr Kowitz’s dogs, wrote this week to Katy Bourne, the Sussex police and crime commissioner, asking her to support tougher sanctions in such cases. He wrote: “Farmers are frequently being asked to pay more attention to animal welfare, and often rightly so, but there are not sufficient penalties placed on neglectful pet owners to do the same.

“All dogs should be on a lead whenever they are in a public place as all too often the excuse is, ‘I didn’t know there were any sheep in the field’, when the dog had been running on ahead of its owner.”

In 2015 Mr Kowitz’s wife, Sarah, was photographed with three of the family’s dogs on the lawn in front of Fairlight Hall for an article in Sussex Life magazine.

She told how she loved the “beautifully unspoilt” countryside and how the couple had made environmental improvements to their grade II listed mansion, which was designed in 1843. These included insulating the roof with sheep’s wool.

Angry farmers are not Mr Kowitz’s only problem. His company, Fairlight Art Ventures, is facing a claim from Sotheby’s over a painting the auction house sold for £6.7 million but later declared to be fake. There is no suggestion Mr Kowitz knew this when the painting was given to Sotheby’s to sell.

He founded Indus Capital Partners in 2000 and is a major donor to arts groups and events in East Sussex, including the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition. He did not respond to requests for comment.

Sussex police said it would not be taking action against the owner of the dogs because the animals were dead.

Behind the story
Dogs killed or seriously injured more than 21,000 sheep, lambs and other livestock last year, costing UK farmers £1.2 million, according to the insurer NFU Mutual (Ben Webster writes).

Police figures show 1,392 dog attacks on farm animals in 2016, compared with 691 in 2011. In one of the deadliest attacks 116 sheep were killed near Chichester, West Sussex.

The maximum penalty for failing to prevent a dog attacking sheep is a £1,000 fine and the dog can be killed, but prosecution can be difficult if the owner is not present during an attack.

The Livestock Worrying Police Working Group, set up by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said last year that officers should be given more powers, including the ability to enter property to seize dogs suspected of an attack.

Describing the 1953 Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act as outdated, the group called for a DNA database of dogs suspected of attacks and a law to require dogs be kept on a lead while in an enclosed area with livestock.

 

[David.]

It is a terrible thing.
I swear most owners just dont believe their dogs capable of it.
Had a call 2 weeks ago from neighbour, empty hoggs in village being chased by dog, got there to find owner completely mellowed, smoking a spliff, dog back on lead and full of apologies, sheepdog cross thing had not bitten any, just run them a out a bit. Offered him words of advice, and he got back in his Golf GT and left promising to not let it happen again.

 

[yellowbelly]

Thanks for posting that @It was already broken.

Sussex police said it would not be taking action against the owner of the dogs because the animals were dead.

This is pretty typical of current policing.

The last serious dog attack we had, the owner, allegedly, already had an order against him forbidding him to keep dogs - probably why he was keen to get his cheque book out and pay for the damage.
The police weren't interested in following it up and, to be fair, I was just relieved to get the compensation without having to go to court.

IMHO, it's time the police started enforcing the law properly.

 

[Longlowdog]

If you entered a joiners workshop and started smashing stuff you'd be heavily prosecuted in a criminal court. Why is it not the same with sheep.
Courts should assign a whole of life' value to sheep. One hogg having 9 lambs and a cull value should be worth £1k when you add in genetic merit to a flock. When courts do this and a few high profile cases are reported where some tosser has to sell his second car to pay the fine maybe just maybe folk will take notice. Having been responsible for a sheep worrying should leave you with a criminal record. Farmers should not have to try to sue owner to recover their losses.

 

[yellowbelly]

Having been responsible for a sheep worrying should leave you with a criminal record.

That's what the problem is - sheep worrying is a civil offence (not a criminal offence). That's why the police don't like getting involved (or so our local lot told me the last time we had an incident)

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

That's what the problem is - sheep worrying is a civil offence (not a criminal offence). That's why the police don't like getting involved (or so our local lot told me the last time we had an incident)

Yes unfortunately this is all too true. It is a Civil Offence so no criminal record and a maximum of £1,000.00 fine which for the likes of these people is like a slap on the wrist.
To be fair to the police in this case they are trying to bring a Criminal Damage case but they have to prove what I believe they call "Wilful Negligence" which is difficult in this case to prove, even though they are repeat offenders.

It is interesting that his wife is now the owner of the dogs and will take any punishment that occurs.
The Law needs changing and while those people who do lose control of their dogs while out walking them and try to get them back should be treated less severely to these people who continually allow their animals to attack livestock, the punishment needs to be far more severe.