Escaped collies from kennels shot by farmer

[JoanBias]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2221414/Farmer-shoots-collies-dead-escape-boarding-kennels-owners-holiday.html

This is from a DM report & I've seen similar elsewhere too:

'The incident happened after the couple left Millie, aged one, and Benson, three, at the Brookend Boarding Kennels in Leigh Sinton, Worcestershire, last month.
Although it was pointed out to them that Millie had been able to clear the four-foot fences during a previous stay at the kennels, the Rodens had agreed their dogs could be exercised off the lead because they believed the dogs would obey any calls to come back if they strayed too far away.
But kennel owner Les Childs claimed Millie and Benson ignored his calls when they suddenly made off towards a hedge line at the top of his field as he walked them with two labradors, who were on a lead.'

Sounds like multiple responsibility to me (plus trigger-happy farmer)

Also, dog owner says:

'The farmer claimed the dogs had pinned a sheep down but that?s rubbish ? no sheep were even injured'

how does he know no sheep were injured? I read that the farmer was visited by police & no further action was to be taken against him, so was he able to produce an injured/dead sheep, with evidence of worrying?

It's all rather 'he said', 'she said'

I agree Ponders, it's all tittle-tattle. I don't see how the owners can give 'witness statements' as to what the dogs were doing when they weren't even in the country!

It's interesting that nobody has expressed sympathy for the owners, just for the dogs!

If it was me &the dogs had escaped before/had iffy recall, I would have walked them on a lead whatever the owner said tbh.

Recall might be dependent on who was doing the calling too. Our collie would pretty much always come if my mother (total center of the universe) called, but if any of us children (otherwise irrelevant people who just happened to did most of the walking and feeding grr...) callled he'd look around and then pretty much carry on with whatever he wanted to do.

I used to live there he threatened to shoot my dog because she was off the lead.

I'd like to see some proof in this story that the farmer had repeatedly been bothered by dogs and had made numerous attempts to scare the dogs off, catch them or call for help in catching them before resorting to his shotgun. There's not much comeback from a 12-bore. Haven't got much sympathy for him otherwise, he does sound trigger happy. Those poor dogs.

I live in a agricultural place and there are signs up before you get into certain fields with public footpaths running through asking you (politely) to put your dog on a lead before crossing but as a dog owner I personally would not want to cross a field with sheep but especially cows in without having them on a lead anyway and my one collie is very well trained, so much so the sheep farmer asked if he could pay me to borrow her I live on the edge of a dairy farm and I have seen so many people chased by a herd of cows because they have not leaded up their dogs and they scream and run like it's the cows fault. I have been chased by them myself but the dog has always been on the lead, so it's not failsafe but at least it limits them being scared or threatened.

I feel terribly sad for the owners, I would be devastated. I don't leave my collies in kennels anymore and haven't for about 9 years now, but my older collie had lurcher in her and would run and give chase and I would have been livid if the kennel had let her get out. Luckily the kennel I used never did and she was walked everyday and was always alive when we got home