Dog owners are being warned about the consequences of walking their dogs off the lead in the countryside after an incident on a sheep farm in Lincolnshire.
Louise and Chris Elkington, owners of Gelston Lamb, are deep into the throes of lambing season and caring for their flock.
They were hard at work delivering lambs when they received a call that some of their sheep had escaped from a field in Barkston.
After rushing to retrieve their flock it was clear something was wrong.
“Our sheep had been pushed to the point of exhaustion,” said Louise
“We have CCTV footage showing a dog entering the field, scaring the sheep into a corner and forcing them through the wire.
“They went across three more fields, and if they’d gone any further they would have ended up on the railway line — then I don’t know what could have happened.”
The couple found half a dozen of the sheep stranded in a muddy dyke, exhausted and with waterlogged coats.
“If the water had been any deeper, they could have drowned,” said Louise.
“It’s annoying — we’re lambing at the moment and that field is not on our doorstep.
“This took Chris and I away from the other sheep we were helping, but thankfully there were no complications and they were all alright.
“It could have been avoided. It’s not hard to put a dog on a lead.”
Louise added that there can be serious consequences for dog owners if their animal is caught worrying or injures livestock.
“Legally, as farmers we are well within our rights to shoot a dog if it is off the lead and worrying our animals,” she said.
“No one wants to shoot a dog, but it could happen.”
The incident happened on Tuesday last week (April 8).
In England and Wales, livestock worrying also carries a maximum fine of £1,000 if prosecuted, plus legal costs and any compensation.
“Part of the problem is people think they have good recall and that they their pets won’t harm sheep,” she added.
“But even if a dog doesn’t bite, it can cause a lot of stress to the point when a pregnant ewe may even abort.
“A lot of people are very respectful, but other don’t seem to realise.
“My message is to always keep your dog on a lead, especially if you cannot see exactly what is in front of you — do not assume that a field will be empty.”
