Working hard to educate irresponsible dog owners, say police

NFU Mutual research released recently found almost three quarters of dog owners (73 per cent) now allow their pets to roam off-lead in the countryside – up from (64 per cent) a year ago.

This is despite around half (49 per cent) saying their dog doesn’t always come back when called.

The rural insurer estimates that farm animals worth over £305,000 were injured or killed by dogs in Wales last year.

Rebecca Davidson, rural affairs specialist at NFU Mutual, said: “Behind the figures, these horrific attacks are causing unbearable suffering to farm animals and anxiety for farmers as they deal with the aftermath.

“There’s a new generation of dog owners whose pandemic puppies are coming of age and they simply don’t know how their dog is going to behave around livestock.

“It’s hard for people to imagine that their affectionate, family pet could injure or kill another animal and it’s not only physical attacks that can harm livestock.

"Even if a small dog chases sheep and they don’t make contact, they can separate lambs from their mothers or the distress and exhaustion from the chase can cause a pregnant ewe to die or miscarry.”

Rob Taylor, Wales Rural Police coordinator and UK Police livestock lead, said: “The estimated figure of £305,000 based on claims alone in Wales is shocking but not surprising, as our rural officers are dealing with these barbaric offences on a daily basis.

"Of course, the figures could be far higher given those farmers without insurance or who don’t report attacks.

“We are working hard to educate irresponsible dog owners and by working in Parliament to see through a brand-new law fit for 2022 to give the police better investigative powers and to include a wider array of kept animals given protection.

“There’s a new generation of dog owners whose pandemic puppies are coming of age and they simply don’t know how their dog is going to behave around livestock.

"This isn’t all about enforcement it is also about education and making dog owners take responsibility for their pets to help prevent these truly horrific offences in our countryside.”

NFU Mutual estimates the UK cost of dog attacks on livestock was £1.52m last year as pet ownership and countryside visits surged.

Rebecca Davidson added: “Livestock attacks can have a huge impact on farmers’ livelihoods.

"While insurance can cover the cost of replacing stock killed and the treatment of injured animals, there is a knock-on effect on breeding programmes that can take years to overcome.

“We want people to enjoy the countryside and recognise the huge benefit it brings to people’s wellbeing. We’re simply asking for people to keep their dogs under control and on a lead.”

With many dog owners planning to visit the countryside during coming weeks as the weather improves, and sheep are at their most vulnerable, NFU Mutual is calling for dog owners to:

• Keep dogs on the lead when walking in rural areas where livestock are kept but let go of the lead if chased by cattle.
• Be aware that even small dogs can cause the distress, injury and death of farm animals.
• Report attacks by dogs to the police or local farmers.
• Don’t let dogs loose unsupervised in gardens near livestock fields – many attacks are caused by dogs which escape and attack sheep grazing nearby.