Derbyshire farm shop owner Steve Croot has urged dog owners
to keep their pets on leads after three of his lambs died in two days following
suspected attacks from dogs.
Steve feared that his flock may have contracted an illness or
disease when he discovered the dead lambs. But after a post mortem examination
on the third animal by a vet, it appears that the animals had been attacked,
said Steve.
He has now posted notices on the public footpath that
crosses the field at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, near Duffield, where
he keeps the sheep, appealing to owners to keep their dogs on leads.
Steve, a dog owner himself, said: “After finding three dead
lambs in two days I wondered if we had a disease so I had a post mortem carried
out on the third animal and the vet confirmed there were puncture marks in the
skin and said it was a dog that had attacked it. It wasn’t a fox that was
responsible because foxes tend to chew their victims.
“I am a dog owner and dog lover myself, and I know that the
vast majority of dog owners are very responsible and would hate to think their
pet had caused the death of a lamb. I’ve read about cases recently reported by
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust in which dogs, some as old as 11, had attacked
sheep, having never done it before. The attacks very much came out of the blue
and their owners were distraught. However well behaved a dog is, at the end of
the day it’s an animal and it can behave unpredictably.
“The best way to avoid anything like this happening is for anyone
out walking their dog in the countryside to please keep their animals under
control, on a lead, when there are sheep and lambs around.”
Steve’s flock delivered 100 lambs this spring, with the
animals grazing around the fields close to Croots Farm Shop. He breeds and
rears the lambs to sell in the farm shop.
It is against the law to let a
dog be dangerously out of control anywhere. A court can decide that your dog is
dangerously out of control if it injures someone’s animal.
Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk
