Five sheep were killed in Co Cork over the weekend in a dog attack which drove a number of ewes and their lambs from a height down on to the old Blarney Road and into a river.

The onslaught resulted in devastation for Cork farmer Dan Cronin.

One of the lambs was beheaded and four other sheep were savagely attacked.

Last Friday 3 March at around 6.30pm Cronin's sheep were chased from his farm in Lower Killeens near Blarney by three dogs.

The suckler and sheep farmer has said that he is "utterly devastated" following the death of the five sheep belonging to his two daughters.

"As bad as it is, we are lucky there wasn't someone killed on the road coming home from work. They [dogs] ran them out of the field and they would have dropped from a height on to the Blarney Road. They were then driven into the river and that's where we got to them," he said.

A number of the remaining sheep are injured and traumatised following the dog attack, Cronin said.

"Sheep are very sensitive animals. I could go out in the morning and there could be more dead. We've had attacks before and I got out of sheep for years but my two daughters were mad to get into them," he said.

A neighbour reported seeing two lurchers and a terrier, all of which had collars on, according to Cronin.

"I'm fully convinced these dogs weren't out on their own. Someone was out hunting with them and when they called them, they probably wouldn't come back. They had collars on, they were with someone," he argued.

Cronin said he sees people out walking dogs on a regular basis with no control over them and has argued that people need to have more respect.

"I'm just terrified that these dogs will come back again. I'm farming long enough to know that when dogs get the taste of blood they will want more," Cronin said.

Gardaí in Blarney have said they are currently investigating the incident.