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Sheep farmer Brian Nicholson said he was checking ewes ready to lamb down between 5.30am and 6am this Monday when he heard dogs in a nearby field where he keeps dry hoggets in Johnstown, Co Kilkenny.
He found his flock under attack and had to shoot three dogs in the field.
"If I hadn't been checking the ewes they could have done a lot of damage," Brian said. Instead, it appears the dogs only had time to worry the sheep before he intervened, with no severe injuries to report.
The farmer and contributor to the Irish Farmers Journal's "Farmer writes" column said the dogs had no collars and a microchip reader he uses for his own dogs found no chips on the intruders.
Brian called on dog owners to keep their pets under control at all times. "Respect the dog and other people," he said.
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