Inveraray summit gathers sheep worrying agencies

Inveraray farmer Brian Walker suffered a dog attack on a field of breeding ewe hoggs in March 2018 that left 11 animals dead.

 

On December 7, he hosted a meeting of agencies involved with the issue of livestock worrying by dogs at his Carloonan Farm, and he is hopeful there is now an opportunity to tackle the problem.

 

"attachment_153879" "" "300"] Delegates included politicians, and representatives from NFU Scotland, vets, Argyll and Bute Council, SSPCA, police and farming community

 

South of Scotland MSP Emma Harper is looking to bring forward a Private Members Bill to the Scottish Parliament on the issue and she travelled to the farm to hear the views of everyone present.

 

They were joined by Argyll and Bute MSP Michael Russell along with representatives from Argyll and Bute Council, local vets, the SSPCA, Scottish Government, Police Scotland, NFU Scotland and the National Sheep Association.

 

The problem was brought into sharp focus in March this year when Mr Walker made a gruesome morning discovery on his feeding rounds near Inveraray.

 

In total, four sheep were killed by being driven into a burn and drowned, seven had to be put down due to the extent of their injuries and six survived and were treated for facial and other wounds.

 

Mr Walker, who lost four sheep in an attack eight years earlier, said: 'I have experienced attacks by dogs before, but this was one of the worst I have ever seen. Every sheep attacked had its face ripped open. It wasn't a pleasant sight.'

 

The owner of the dogs was traced and charged with offences under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953. He pleaded guilty, yet in sentencing the court was limited to an 80 hour community payback order, nor could the sheriff ban him from keeping dogs.

 

'We have done everything by the book since this happened to ensure it was fairly and properly put through the justice system,' said Mr Walker.

 

'However, even with doing this we have been let down by antiquated legislation.'

 

In a bid to address this 'antiquated legislation' Emma Harper is bringing forward a consultation for a new Scottish Parliament Bill on livestock worrying which would give clear guidance on the responsibility of dog owners. It will also allow for the setting of consequences for breaches of the legislation.

 

And everyone gathered around Brian Walker's dining room table agreed that the phrase 'livestock worrying' should be replaced with 'attacks'.

 

Brian Walker spoke of the trauma surrounding such attacks, adding: 'Even hardened people like the police and the dog warden were pretty shocked by what they saw when they were dealing with our incident, without question.'

 

'But it's a major financial loss too. It's like someone taking money out of your bank account.'

 

Speaking after the meeting, farmer's daughter Emma Harper MSP said: 'This livestock worrying for me is about livestock attack.'

 

A former trauma nurse, she has treated people with horrific facial and other injuries and she sees a parallel with the results of a dog attack.

 

She added: 'The mutilation I have witnessed from seeing pictures and talking to farmers is an issue that absolutely must be taken seriously.

 

'I think that everyone has an idea of the way we can make the legislation better so that we can allow the Crown officers to be able to pursue an approach that may be a bit more tailor-made so they have more tools in their box.

 

'The legislation from 1953 is well out of date. I think we need the ability to fine someone a lot more than just £50 for causing damage to property, which is a sheep.'

 

A 12-week consultation on the proposed Bill will go out electronically in early January 2019.

 

Ms Harper explained: 'We can then start the process of developing a Bill at stage one which will be discussed in the Scottish Parliament before stage two in front of the rural committee, and then stage three, so hopefully we'll be able to get this process moved forward before the end of the parliamentary session.'

 

Brian Walker said: 'I think an awful lot of positives should have come out from this meeting. There was someone here from pretty much every organisation that is involved with livestock worrying.

 

'The way things are nowadays the term 'worrying' doesn't make people sit up and think.

 

'The word 'attack' will hopefully become part of the legislation. It's the shock and horror of dealing with the animals left alive, we need to get that across. It's very traumatic.'

 

Then there is the financial cost. The sheep killed in the March attack were breeding ewe hoggs.

 

'Brian Walker continued: 'They were going to be on the farm for the next five or six years and during that time they would have produced offspring for me to sell which is what creates our income.'

 

He stressed that 99.9 per cent of dog walkers are fine, adding: 'Most of my land is round about the town of Inveraray and I meet a lot of dog walkers. I know a lot of them and there's no problem.

 

'It's a minority of people who allow their dogs to run out of control who cause problems. But it's becoming a bigger minority as more and more people get pet dogs.

 

'It's a problem that's escalating and, one way or another, there have to be proper controls put in place.'