Ewes aborting lambs after hunting hounds attack in Co Down

Part-time sheep farmer Alan Sloane was on his way home from work last Tuesday, 2 February, when he saw a stag hunt enter his land near Newry in Co Down. It was too late, however, as the hunting hounds had already come across his in-lamb ewes.

"I had the stock out because it was a nice day. I came home from work, and I could see the hunt going on about 500 yards away.

"I grabbed my gun and ran to yard where there were already about 12 to 14 large hounds attacking my spring-lambing ewes. I killed three and wounded another seven or eight," he told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Although no ewes were killed in the attacks, some have started to abort their lambs.

"The ewes were still three weeks off lambing but that Saturday some of them started aborting their lambs. Four lambs were born dead, and ten lambs are still alive but are very weak.

"I'm giving the ewes oxytocin to bring on the milk, and the lambs are getting tubed dried colostrum and multivitamins to try and keep them alive," he said.

Alan, who has 40 ewes still left to lamb, has to travel home from work twice daily now to check on them and try and keep his lambs alive. His wife Esther also checks on the animals regularly.

"This incident alone could end up costing me a couple of grand. Sheep farmers are suffering for the sake of a 'fun day out' for the hunters. It needs to be banned," he said.

Hunting

The sheep farmer told the Irish Farmers Journal that when he came across the hounds attacking his livestock they were unsupervised, which he explained to the huntsmen after.

"I was met with nothing but bad manners. They said I had no signs up on my land, and I said I never met a dog yet that could read.

"They think they are the lords of the manor and we are only the peasants. They shouldn't be allowed plough through the poor working man's land. It should be banned."

Alan contacted the police after the attacks to inform them of the incident. He said he was told he was fully within his rights to do what he had done.

According to Alan, an attempt was made to remove the hounds from his property before they could be identified. However, the local dog warden had already arrived and had read their ID chips.

IFA appeals to dog owners

IFA national sheep chair John Lynskey has warned dog owners to keep their pets under control at all times "as they can be held responsible for losses involved in dog attacks, with serious financial and legal consequences."

34,000 sheep farmers are currently preparing to lamb down 2.4m ewes, he said, and pregnant ewes on the point of lambing at this time of year are particularly vulnerable to dog attacks.

Recent dog attacks have been reported to IFA from flock owners in counties Wexford, Wicklow, Offaly and Galway.

The problem of dog attacks on sheep may be in the order of 300 to 400 attacks per annum, according to the IFA, with 3,000 to 4,000 sheep injured and killed. An average of 11 sheep are killed or injured per attack.

Lynskey said farmers have a right to protect their flock.

"Unfortunately, I am taking calls on a frequent basis from sheep farmers around the country who have suffered attacks. There are far too many dog owners not taking the responsibility that goes with owning a pet. Dog owners have an obligation to have their dog under control at all times," he said.

Under the law

In the Republic of Ireland, the law states that:

It shall be a defence to any action for damages against a person for the shooting of a dog, or to any charge arising out of the shooting of a dog, if the defendant proves that:

(a) the dog was shot when it was worrying, or was about to worry, livestock and that there were no other reasonable means of ending or preventing the worrying; or

(b) (i) the dog was a stray dog which was in the vicinity of a place where livestock had been injured or killed, and

(ii) the defendant reasonably believed that the dog had been involved in the injury or killing, and

(iii) there were no practicable means of seizing the dog or ascertaining to whom it belonged; and

(c) he was the person in charge of the livestock; and

(d) he notified within forty-eight hours the member in charge at the nearest Garda Station to the place where the dog was shot of the incident.

Read more

15 ewes savaged by dogs in Wicklow

Cows severely injured in dog attack in Co Cork