Several lambs have been killed in a dog attack in Beaufort, Co Kerry, which occurred between Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Farmer and owner Tomas O’Leary told the Irish Farmers Journal that the attack occurred on the home farm while he was away.

“I came out to see the lambs on Saturday morning and I knew straight away there was something wrong,” he said.

“The lambs had been driven up to the corner and had been kept there all night. The corner was mucky and the lambs were huddled together. As I walked around the field, I saw that there were also lambs stuck in the wire which had gotten caught between the wire and the fence.

“There were 11 lambs killed with 18 more chronically injured. I brought the lambs in from the field and they were traumatised. They are big weaned lambs, some of them are around 40kg in weight. The lambs were bleeding, their throats were cut, they had bites taken out of them.

“The dogs came in from another farm to come to ours as we have no road frontage. They must have been big dogs because the lambs were torn to pieces.”

The effects of the dog attack are still being felt on the farm. Tomas said: “I called the vet and she treated them. I’m still injecting injured lambs four days on. I’m scared a couple won’t make it. The lambs that aren’t injured are now traumatised. Some of the lambs were breeding lambs - they might not be fit for breeding anymore. They’ve gone back massively since the attack.”

Tomas recorded 11 fatalities from the attack.

Awareness

“I want to raise awareness of the fact that people’s lovely pets are actually dangerous animals. It’s a sheep farmer's worst nightmare. You can deal with what is in front of you but it’s the fear of the unknown that is the worst. People need to tie up their dogs. It needs to become socially unacceptable for people to leave dogs loose to roam the countryside.”

Gardaí attended the scene of the dog attack and are investigating the matter.