Archived News

18th April 2008

Huge dog kills flock of sheep at Wotton.  Yes it’s a banner headline which should be emblazoned across the local papers.  The pictures below contain blood.

It was an idyllic scene up at Shootlands over Easter with lambs happily gambolling about the field, but just a week later all this had dramatically changed, it was the same field but now the scene was one of blood and carnage.  

That Sunday morning it had snowed, the woods and lanes transformed into a winter wonderland, and with the arrival of snow came another arrival, a new born lamb, helping to increase Amanda’s flock to 24.

Thankfully, Amanda decided to bring the ewe and lamb back to the farm, to give them some protection from the weather and as it would transpire, this action saved their lives.

We received a call later that day to say a dog was up in the field attacking the sheep.  The field was strewn with dead and dieing sheep and a Great Dane was still chasing anything still on its feet and then ripping chunks out of them.  The dog was shot, but by this time it had killed 12 sheep, seven ewes and five lambs.

The trauma and injury suffered by these poor sheep cannot be adequately put into words, but the consequences of the attack will linger on.  Ewes and their lambs, pregnant ewes (one killed whilst in labour) and the ram lambs which Amanda was going to sell for breeding, were all relentlessly hounded to their death.

                 Left for dead by the dog, here are two survivors 

The surviving ewes have gruesome injuries and they are in a terrible state of shock, it is heartbreaking to see the dazed look in their eyes.

The following day, one of the surviving pregnant ewes, gave birth to a dead lamb.

Three lambs have been robbed of their mothers and are now being bottle fed.

Please only walk on public footpaths and bridleways and keep dogs under close control and on lead when near livestock.

Last year a dog attacked some of our cattle down at Coomb Farm and those injuries were also appalling.

If you cannot sufficiently control your dog in the countryside, put it on a lead.

This poor girl has been savaged around the neck and face, just about alive.