In Pictures: Over 50 sheep butchered in 10 days

“It’s unthinkable. It’s been a horror 10 days for us. I’m just heading to the knackery with 28 hoggets which were attacked and killed.”

Tom Kavanagh is from Rathvilly in Co Carlow. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal on Tuesday morning, he was heading to his local knackery with a trailer load of hoggets. Twenty eight in total. All of which had been killed after being attacked by a dog last weekend.

“The attack took place on Friday night into Saturday morning; it was probably more likely to have taken place on the Friday night,” he said.

“There were 28 killed and eight others were badly maimed,” Kavanagh, who fattens 800 hoggets each year, said. “A neighbour rang to say that a dog was in the field and that some of the sheep had been attacked. I went up and saw him but he ran away. Another neighbour saw the dog later and shot at him. He didn’t kill him but he did catch him.”

Kavanagh is not alone in being a victim of an attack on his flock. Over the past two weeks, well over 50 sheep in the locality have been killed as a result of uncontrolled dogs. Kavanagh, like his neighbours, wants action to be taken against the owners of the dogs.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal last week, William Burgess from the Rathvilly area said sheep farmers are becoming increasingly worried by the increased level of attacks.

“You’re going to sleep at night and you’re constantly worried about your sheep. Although 99% of people do look after their dogs, it’s the 1% who don’t who are the problem,” Burgess said.

Kavanagh said there is an onus and a responsibility on dog owners to have their dogs microchipped.

“It’s next to impossible to get the owners of these dogs unless the dogs are microchipped,” he said.

“It’s a terrible thing on farmers and sheep to have this happen. If the sheep aren’t killed then they’re stressed and worried. Farmers are very worried too. We’re coming up to the real busy lambing time and farmers can’t afford to have dogs out roaming like this. It’s Carlow today, it could be Tipperary next week, it could be wherever the week after. We need protection,” Kavanagh added.