Nine sheep and unborn calf dead after weekend of dog attacks in Bridport
WARNING: Some people may find the images in this article upsetting
WARNING: Some people may find the images in this article upsetting
Nine sheep and an unborn cow are the casualties of a weekend of dog attacks for one Bridport farmer.
Loose dogs at Eggardon Hill killed three sheep and injured six lambs so badly they had to be put down on Friday 21st January.
On the Sunday, dogs chased a pregnant Highland cow called Tilly leading to an abortive pregnancy.
One sheep was missing part of its face and an eye after the vicious attack.
Cameron Farquharson is the farmer who owns them. He's been campaigning for stronger laws to keep dogs on leads and prevent livestock worrying ever since a similar incident last may. Dogs chased one of his Highland cows, Gladys, off the edge of Eggardon Hill where she fell 30ft to her death days before she was due to give birth.
Cameron said:
"The feelings we had was basically the bottom of my stomach just dropped and it was the exact same feeling I had when I lost Gladys nearly nine, ten months ago.
"Any farmer will tell you it puts you in a dark place because you've looked after these animals for so long, for a dog to come along and kill them is just not right.
"We were gutted, especially as young lambs are coming through into the flock."
Cameron is campaigning to get a new bill passed into law which will mean dog owners could face ÂŁ10,000 fines as a deterrent.
The bill is yet to pass through parliament alongside other Animal Welfare reforms.
Until then Cameron says dog owners need to take responsibility.
Cameron added:
"It's not the dog's fault. It's the owner because they haven't trained. It's what you put into a dog training-wise.
"A dog will chase a ball, a stick, a sheep, a cow, it's instinct. A dog doesn't know what's in that field, but the owner does. It's common sense, put it on a lead."