To think parents should take responsibility if children chase sheep on country walk?

[Firethorn]

Recently went for a country walk (public right of way across farmland) with SIL, my 2 nieces, and another couple and their 3 kids. Crossing a sheep-field, the 5 kids started chasing sheep, trying to 'round them up' in a flock like they'd seen sheepdogs do on TV. I asked SIL if we should stop them, she said no they always do this it's not doing any harm. Other couple agreed and said the kids are having fun, let them play with the sheep. I was a bit concerned as one child was carrying a stick and waving it around, but respected the parents' decision.
Shortly afterwards an irate farmer marched towards us shouting and swearing! She was really aggressive and had a snarling dog (off the lead), dog was circling us but not approaching. For about 5 minutes mins she yelled and swore at the kids for chasing her sheep. All 3 parents then turned on their kids and told them off, lying that they'd been telling them to stop but they'd disobeyed! (They hadn't told them to stop at any point). My niece burst into tears and hid behind me and I lost my temper with farmer for swearing at kids, told her to back off and stop shouting, and to get dog under control. The dad of one of other kids then threatened to kick the dog if it came near his kids, and after some more shouting we decided to go back way we'd come. She shouted abuse after us until we were out of sight!

I'm annoyed with other parents for letting their kids chase sheep then lying about trying to stop them! Also with farmer for being so intimidating and rude. SIL says we should just have apologised and carried on walking. AIBU?

Jeez, the farmer did nothing wrong. You all did by not stopping the children. Some people

Im not goady at all, I just say what I feel on a public forum. Do I point people out? very rarely. I don't feel the need.

Oh wait seen the OP update with the dad fuming over the farmers language- what a twatish attitude.

Yabu!

How cruel to let a bunch of kids chase (very heavily pregnant no doubt) sheep. It's disgusting. They have no respect for animals. The children or the adults in this scenario. They had no right. "Playing with the sheep" yeah right!

The farmer did nothing wrong nor did her dog, the kids are threatening her animals, it's her that will deal with the fall out of it, of course she's going to go ape shit! What did you expect? If the kids were dogs she could have shot them. It's not up to her to place friendly signs, it's common sense parents should teach their precious snowflakes it's never ok to tease any animal.

And as for the adult threatening to kick a dog? Classy. The dog did nothing wrong. Next time keep the kids under control. Job done!

There was a MN thread a couple of years ago where some holiday-cottage-occupiers let their dog chase sheep and the MN-er owner of the sheep had to sit with them overnight while one miscarried and a couple of lambs were born too early - or something. I forget the exact details but it involved the death of ewes and their unborn lambs.

SIL was right - she should have bloody well apologised! And the Dad is an idiot if he thought that a sheep owner would not have a dog completely under control in a field of sheep! (apart from all the other evidence which concludes that he and the other parents are all idiots)

Is this real? If they live in the village surely they know the farmer?

Why did you intervene like that? Could you not have said "OK, we do understand, but the kids are frightened, can you just address the adults, please?" God knows why you felt the need to defend the kids when you hadn't felt able to talk to your own nieces about not chasing sheep.

I hope the kids were bloody frightened - they will learn from that what they haven't learned form idiot parents. Tel your niece she now knows how the sheep feel.

10 year olds know not to chase animals like sheep.

I am struggling to understand the mentality here.

the dickhead father was fuming was he? Because a farmer saw uncontrolled children chasing her livestock and their parents doing nothing to stop them? the same parents who then lied through their teeth to her? who were allowing their children to trespass - because they were off the right of way.

Of course her first reaction was to shout at them to stop what they were doing. She had to stop them as quickly as possible.

It is not her responsibility to put "polite" notices on her property for the benefit of entitled twonks who think that they can do whatever they want, wherever they want and allow their children to do the same.

I bet the parents were resentful and angry because they knew how outrageously they were behaving and were annoyed to have been called out on it. they sound incredibly stupid, selfish and entitled.

And I agree with pp that the psychological harm of realising that when trouble comes along your parents will lie and drop you in it in order to Teflon any blame off themselves rather than accept responsibility will be far greater than the psychological harm of having a farmer yell at you for five minutes.

Nobody is required to be "civil" when unleashing their righteous wrath at a bunch of stupid nincompoops who don't know how to conduct themselves on someone else's land around their livestock.

Seriously OP - do you really think an enraged Farmer, at the start of lambing season (I.e. Their livelihood) watching a bunch of idiots and their offspring put their livestock at risk should be civil???

The dad was fuming all way home about her attitude

Oh, was he? Maybe the selfish bastard should think twice about letting his children run riot chasing sheep then? I'll tell you something for nothing, I'd you'd been on our land allowing children to chase sheep you wouldn't have got off so lightly! How dare the selfish bastard be angry when he wasn't even big enough to take the blame for LETTING his kids chase the sheep in the first place. What a fucking coward telling his kids off when he had already said it was ok to have 'fun' chasing them.

You're idiots. Show some respect. It's their livelihood you're screwing with when you allow your kids to chase livestock.

I think those children will actually have seen their parents diminish in their eyes and will have lost respect for them.

Cowardly actions by the parents and badly done.

Another YABVU from me too.

I don't see how it improves understanding between farmers/walkers if they behave in such intimidating manner. A polite notice on the gate would have been more effective

Are you fucking joking? A polite notice to tell total idiots that they shouldn't chase sheep? I bet a polite notice wouldn't work and it would have taken the farmer shouting and swearing to get your stupid, stupid family to listen anyway.

I'm clearly not the only one that thinks your family is awful but I just want to tell you that your family, your nieces and nephews and you are some of the stupidest, most foolish and cruel people I've read about on here lately. I'm including the children in this because at that age I wouldn't have chased and hounded animals for fun - so I'm comparing you to my under 10 self.

The dad would have got a MASSIVE mouthful from me if I'd caught him worrying my sheep.
As others have pointed out, it's perfectly legal for a farmer to shoot a dog that's worrying their sheep.

I can't BELIEVE any of you thought that 1. this would be ok and 2. that you would get anything other than vitriol on this website.

You stupid people.

"But I still think farmer should have addressed adults not children, avoided swearing and been a bit more civil." If you arrived in a field and found people engaged in behaviour that was very likely to KILL sheep you had known for years, and KILL their unborn lambs, decimating your income for this year, would you be calm, polite and educational in your approach? Look how your BIL reacted when his kids were being growled at by the dog - with threats of a violent kick, The farmer will have felt the same.

And I can assure you that Cumbrian sheep will also run for their lives - possibly over steep slopes and dangerous boulders - if actually chased by a gang of kids - however hard they beg for sandwiches.

FFS.

I call reverse AIBU.

because nobody could be that obliviously dense. The touch about "not swearing in front of the children" was genius, as was the knobhead father threatening to kick the dog and then fuming all the way home.

But I still think farmer should have addressed adults not children, avoided swearing and been a bit more civil. The dad was fuming all way home about her attitude, I don't see how it improves understanding between farmers/walkers if they behave in such intimidating manner. A polite notice on the gate would have been more effective than a verbal attack that left parents resentful and angry.

OP, now that you know that the sheep/lambs were at risk, do you understand why the farmer would be irate?

But I assume you weren't in Cumbria and if you left the footpath you were trespassing.

Imagine you arrived home and found complete strangers in your home/garden chasing your pets. Would you speak nicely to them? Would you heck! And this was her livelihood! It's lambing season and the consequences don't bear thinking about.

Scared sheep can spontaneously abort their lambs I believe, or they can be born dead.

All kinds of wrong.

I can't remember the last time a thread has actually made me angry - I think it's the sheer stupidity of the adults involved and then the complete indignation of the OP when confronted with how idiotic they all were that's pissed me off the most. There's NO excuse for ignorance.

"I also think the farmer could have got her point across without yelling and swearing, or at least directed this at the adults rather than a bunch of terrified under-10s who didn't realise they were doing something wrong."

Is that what you think, Op? You really have no idea do you? Although as an adult you should at least know that ignorance is no defence.

That farmer will not know just how much damage the children did (watched by their ignorant parents) until the sheep start lambing. Lambs will likely be born dead because of those children.

The question is how many? It could 'just' be one or two. Are you or those ignorant parents going to compensate the farmer for that?

Or if a flock of 60 sheep, expecting perhaps 100 lambs, it could be utter devastation. Thousands of pounds. Are you or those ignorant parents going to compensate the farmer for that?

No wonder the farmer was beside herself with distress and rage!

It is your job to educate yourself before you walk on someone's land, right of way or not, not the landowner's job to educate you when you are there ... and it certainly isn't the farmer's job to keep their sheep away from you while you walk on their land.

The farmer was protecting her livliehood ie the sheep. These children should stick to hanging around on street corners. They'd do less damage.

Ooh.

Never considered a reverse.

Mind you, reverse or not, it's still fucking depressing to think there are people that awful and selfish out there...

What other notices do you think the farmer should put up? "Don't pull the horses' tails?" maybe? Or "Don't feed your pic nic to the cows?" Some things are common sense.

I suggest your SIL takes a bottle of wine and a card from the kids to the farmer and offers to pay for any ewes that have since miscarried.

So the kids were 'playing' with the sheep. Playing with them, with a stick??!!

The dog has more brain cells than your group put together.

my mojitos are going down well here.

people like this should go to a soft play instead.

And leave the countryside to country folk, or city folk who can respect it.

the sheep weren't there for the amusement of the kids, shocking behaviour.