Pitbull kills four sheep at Dublin’s Airfield Estate

A pitbull-type dog has killed four sheep and left more wounded at Airfield Estate, Dundrum, Co Dublin, says farm manager Brian Farrell.

The sheep - pedigree Jacob and Dorset heavily in-lamb ewes and one ewe lamb - were attacked from 1 March, with the latest dying as recently as this week.

Farrell said the sheep were part of the education farm’s flock of 24, kept on the farm since 2018 and due to lamb 17 March.

He said that since then, the flock has been having “major lambing difficulties”, with associated veterinary intervention and the treatment of wounded ewes costing as much as €3,000 so far.

“It’s like the bad gift that keeps on giving with the lambing. The dread we’re seeing with what’s in there. It would turn you off sheep farming ever again,” he continued.

Small dog

While the ewes were “out of sorts” following the attack, their wounds were not immediately noticed - the small nature of the dog meant the sheep’s wounds were hidden under their legs and along their bellies.

Farrell brought the sheep indoors from their small paddock, as he thought some might be starting to lamb early, due to the way they were acting in the field.

“They had lots of bites on their legs where the skin was exposed. He wasn’t big enough to get them on the neck or ears or places like that,” said Farrell, on what he discovered once the ewes were handled.

Two ewes died the following day from shock or their wounds.

Another pedigree Dorset ewe had “ligaments torn on the leg” and was starting to become “badly infected”, requiring weeks of treatment before dying.

With the ewes housed and out of harm's way, the following night the dog turned its attention to the flock’s four ewe lambs.

Farrell described how these sheep, the pick of the farm’s pedigree Jacobs, were all mauled, with one left with a tail “spouting blood” and dying soon after.

Culprit

A gardener on the well-fenced estate noticed the juvenile dog near the sheep the morning of the event, but the animal has not been identified or controlled.

“It was a young pitbull or something like that,” said Farrell.

Airfield Estate has appealed to the Dundrum public to control their pets to prevent further attacks.

Farrell explained that due to the fear of further attacks on the flock, those ewes that survived and are now with lambs at foot are having to be kept indoors.

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