Neighbour (hobby farmer) threatening to shoot our pet goats

[Picasso31]

Does anybody know if he is legally entitled to do this if they get into his orchard (overgrown 'heritage' trees surrounded by weeds that he is apparently 'nurturing' -suspect there is rural funding available for this as he is a hobby farmer with very poorly managed land).

We have checked his orchard and there is no damage to his trees. He keeps his sheep in there who are as likely to eat his trees as our goats. Feeling rather threatened by this as women living alone as he was rather aggressive on the phone.

What would you do?

Find a way to stop your goats from getting in to his orchard and he has no reason to threaten you

Keep the goats out of his orchard.

What would you do?

Ensure my goats are kept in a secured area?

I would apologise profusely for allowing my livestock onto his land and I would improve my fencing so it was actually fit for purpose as a matter of urgency.

As above but I dont believe he can shoot the goats perhaps talk to the police and ask there position on the matter

But obviously keep your goats close

We had a Houdini goat and he had to be kept tethered with a big collar and long chain, because he would eat his way through fences to get to next door’s trees

If you can’t improve your fences enough to contain them, you should look at other options but you can’t expect the neighbour to put up with them

I would apologise profusely for allowing my livestock onto his land and I would improve my fencing so it was actually fit for purpose as a matter of urgency.

Absolutely this!

I doubt very much he is legally allowed to shoot them but doesn’t mean he won’t!

I’ve heard that goats are very difficult to keep contained so maybe reach out to people who own them and see what they do as you don’t want to be put in that position again.

Can you improve the boundary?

Not to drip feed, but the fences are his legal property and he refuses to maintain them, which would keep our goats out. His rams have previously got in to our pet sheep and resulted in unwanted lambs, but we didn't over react or charge him as we could have.

The goats haven't damaged his trees and it's not a recurrent issue, the goats are not regularly on his land and if they have been today it was for a very short time (2 games of wimbledon final) as when we checked they were in our field.. He even has the trees fenced off, but they're not well managed they're swamped by bracken and weeds as is most of his land surrounding us.

Can’t you erect another fence inside the perimeter?

Erect your own fence

Doesn’t matter if it’s his to maintain, it’s down to you to keep your own animals safe

You need your own fencing. Don't rely on your neighbour's fences. We have stock fencing and posts, then a gap of around 4ft and a further fence of post and electric

Put another fence on your own land asap. He can do what he likes with his own fences, but your livestock are your responsibility.

I agree with PPs I’d put my own fence in front of his to make sure that the goats can’t get into his land to save you any more hassle from him

Electric fencing would work perfectly.

You have to keep your stock on your land.

You’ve got the stock,
You put up the stock proof fence

It would take under an hour to sort out an electric fence. You can’t just expect everyone else to sort these issues out if you want the responsibility of having livestock

We're going to electrify that section of the fence, but just wanted to know if he can actually legally shoot them if they do stray? To be clear this is the first time he's even raised the issue, it's not a regular issue we are ignoring.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=IVwnAyw6m0Y

I believe that farmers can legally shoot a dog if it is worrying their sheep. I don’t know about goats but he could easily say he thought it was a dog so I wouldn’t want to risk it.

Agree with all those saying your livestock is your responsibility.

Why would you think it was in any way acceptable for your animals to stray onto someone else's property? What if they stray onto a road and cause an accident?

This is such a non issue. Stop bleating about how badly managed his land is. Your goats need to be kept in.

just wanted to know if he can actually legally shoot them if they do stray

I would doubt it - there’s specific legislation that covers out of control dogs that attack sheep. If he does decide to shoot them that’s not going g to be much consolation or bring your goats back to life sadly. Best to protect them by putting up a fence as a matter of urgency.

Do you notify DEFRA each time the goats leave our premises?
www.gov.uk/guidance/sheep-and-goat-keepers-how-to-keep-a-holding-register

Do you pay damages each time your goats damage your neighbours property?
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/22/contents#pb1-l1g4

Why do you not have suitable livestock fences?
It is your responsibility

Sheep are unlikely to cause damage to trees but goats certainly do. Goats very quickly ring bark trees and kill them.

It doesn’t matter if his fences are bad or his land is ‘poorly managed’, it isn’t anything to do with you. It’s your responsibility to keep your goats on your land!