We chat to a farmer about the epidemic of dog attacks on farm animals

KentOnline / KMTV

The national farmers union are urging dog owners to keep their pets on a lead in farming fields with livestock, after nearly 60% admitted in their survey, that they let them roam free in the countryside.   We spoke on The Kent Morning Show earlier.

Transcript

00:00Donna, thank you very much for your time today. I know you've been out this morning looking

00:04after the sheep as well, so you're a busy, busy farmer, but thank you for sparing a few

00:08minutes to talk to us. Now, how concerning are these figures for you, Donna?

00:16Very concerning. I mean, we're a smallholding anyway. My stepdad, we own, let's say, about

00:21100 and even 112 sheep, and to lose any of them is devastating for us.

00:29What do you think needs to be done?

00:33Dogs need to stay on a lead when they're with livestock. If they're walking on a public

00:40footpath that goes through livestock, just people need to use their common sense. That's

00:46the big thing.

00:48And this new legislation, it's obviously something you'd be in favour of. Would you want people

00:54to be prosecuted for this? Do you think that would be enough of a deterrent?

00:59Yeah, yeah, definitely. They need to see the wrong in what they've done, because when we

01:05had our dog attack back in 2022, no one come forward. We had to take the whole cost of

01:10that. Well, my stepdad had to take the whole cost of that, and it's damaging. So people

01:16need to know what's wrong.

01:19You have more than 120 lambs due over the next few months. We're seeing some pictures

01:24of your sheep now, but those lambs that are coming in, how worried are you about that?

01:29Because if the ewes are put under stress, that can be fatal.

01:34Yeah, I always worry about that. I mean, I'm a big softy at heart. Most of our close sheep

01:41and lambs are always named. And if you've got a dog chasing sheep around a field, you're

01:47stressing them out, that sheep can evolve. And it is heartbreaking. It really is.

01:54And I mean, some pet owners may argue that, you know, they rely on these open spaces to

01:59be able to walk their dogs and exercise. What would be your response to that? I mean, people

02:03say we need to allow our dogs to go off the lead so that they can run free and get that

02:08exercise in.

02:09Yep, I'm all for that. I've got five dogs myself. I do not walk near any livestock fields.

02:16Not on the marsh where we live, there's plenty of areas without livestock. You know, you

02:21can walk down headlands of fields of cropping, providing you're not on the crop. Why pick

02:25a sheep field? Even a cow field? I mean, I wouldn't go near a cow field. But it just

02:30doesn't make sense that people think because there is a field with four fences, it's safe

02:37for their dog. What about our sheep?

02:39Yeah, and you talk there, obviously, on the marsh as well, there's plenty more space than

02:44opposed to sort of farms here in Medway if people are walking their dogs as well. So

02:48this isn't just a problem for you down in that part of the county in Lydda. This is

02:54actually a county wide issue. So what about those farms here in Medway where it is more

02:59populated with people and pets?

03:04I'm sure in Medway there is footpaths that don't go through fields of livestock. You

03:09know, there's got to be recreational fields. Maybe those people who have been built up

03:14areas need to travel a little bit with their pets to run in non-populated areas.

03:20And what's the process like when you have to go to the police about this? I know you

03:24said that when this happened before, that person didn't report it. They didn't sort

03:29of leave a note or anything. What's that like for you? Surely that makes it a lot harder

03:34when you're left in a situation like that.

03:36Yeah, it does. It does. I mean, our first priority is the welfare of the sheep. So obviously,

03:41you've got to get involved pretty quick. When I called the police, they documented

03:46it all. I got a crime reference number, and they sent me some emails of the posters. You've

03:51probably seen the posters saying the rules and regulations of Ghanian sheep fields and

03:56the farmer can shoot. To be fair, what can they do without any sort of follow up or evidence?

04:03I mean, if it happened in a built up area, we might have footage on a ring doorbell or

04:07But most of our fields are out in the middle of nowhere.

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