Sheep farmer's frustration over dog incidents

A farmer has described sheep worrying as a constant concern as walkers cut through his land with their dogs off the lead.

Ryan Baxter said several heavily pregnant ewes among his 320-strong flock at Castor, near Peterborough, had miscarried after being chased.

Figures from the National Sheep Association revealed 87% of farmers surveyed by the charity had experienced a dog attack on livestock in the past year.

"It's frustrating - it's our livelihood - and it's frustrating because it's a really simple fix; if you go to a field with livestock, just clip the lead on," said Mr Baxter.

Describing the latest incident just before lambing season, he said ewes had been chased, and one was left slightly injured.

"They had been run around a lot, and we caught the tail-end of it," he added.

"We have had a few abortions since; it's hard to say to what extent it was linked, and gladly we have not had an incident of one being mauled.

"But having heavily, heavily pregnant ewes run around like that is not something we wanted to see."

Part of the farm falls on land within the Nene Park Trust, which is open for everyone to enjoy.

"They are keen to preserve public access, as are we, but it's important we protect our livestock as well," said Mr Baxter.

Aggressive dogs were not necessarily the issue, he added, but sheep would instinctively run and flock at the sight of a dog, which would then see it as game and give chase.

Some owners became defensive when asked to use a lead, but many locals were "extremely vigilant" and encouraged dog owners to take care, he said.

The National Sheep Association said several cases revealed by its survey included extreme injuries, sheep deaths and abuse hurled at farmers.

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