Last weekend we saw the consequences of just one small fast dog out of control – 170 terrified pregnant ewes chased round the meadow to the point of exhaustion & three of us, including the dog’s owner, powerless to stop it. 24 hours later the sheep were still reacting so strongly to the sight of dogs that we felt it best to stop the grazing early & return them to larger fields. One ewe was unable to follow the others and some sheep may have lost their unborn lambs.
ALL DOGS ON LEADS is not too much to ask. We only put up signs when there is a good reason. We’d like to thank the 99% of dog owners, who do cooperate but it only takes one very distressing incident for serious injury to occur. The dog’s owner said that it had no previous history of chasing sheep.