If my dog killed a sheep I'm the one responsible yes?

[YerAWizardHarree]

THIS HAS NOT HAPPENED TO MY DOG

Just seen a post on my local group that said a dog had got loose and killed 4 sheep so the farmer had shot it dead. Loads of people saying it was disgusting that the dog was shot, whereas my point of view was that it 100% is the owners fault for having a dog that had poor recall of the lead. I mentioned it to my local dog training group and I've been called a cunt, a fucking disgraceful human being. I'm not saying that the dog should have been shot I'm saying that the owner is at fault for allowing the situation

YANBU. I'm a lifelong city-dweller and even I know that dogs can kill/cause sheep to miscarry just by chasing them and that farmers are within their rights to shoot them.

I agree it was the owners fault and the farmer was perfectly within his rights to shoot the dog . not only has it killed 4 of his sheep but all of the others that were in the flock would of been scared and could either miscarry of be litrally scared to death .

I wonder how all the idiots on FB would react if the owners dog had got into a a pets corn type pleace and killed sheep / goats / chickens etc infront of their DCs
Or even worst got in to a playground and attacked the kids
( yes I am well aware there is a big differeance between DCs and sheep )

@MatildaonaWaltzer I’m so sorry, that’s just horrific.

I bet there's many 'good' dog owners that have posted on here that are oblivious to the law around dogs and ground nesting birds and think it's absolutely fine to let their dog run off lead on open land as long as they can't see any sheep?
We have a very rare breed of ground nesting bird that lives near us. This year there were no known nests when usually there are at least 3 breeding pairs. The local conservation group has put that down to so many people using the nesting area to walk their dogs more frequently during lockdown. We got a lot of clueless people driving out to where we live, but even locals walked their dogs off the lead on the breeding ground and many of them had no idea how much damage their dogs were doing. The general consensus is that if it isn’t actually munching on an animal’s bones it probably hasn’t caused harm. That’s not correct.

@MatildaonaWaltzer look up the Dangerous Dogs Act. If you get the police properly interested they can prosecute under this for an attack on any animal. The police didn’t make much effort when our ducks were chased but were a lot more animated when we had video footage of the same dog biting our pony then at a later date growling in our garden at my DD.

That poor dog had a stupid owner.

@backinthebox

I bet there's many 'good' dog owners that have posted on here that are oblivious to the law around dogs and ground nesting birds and think it's absolutely fine to let their dog run off lead on open land as long as they can't see any sheep? We have a very rare breed of ground nesting bird that lives near us. This year there were no known nests when usually there are at least 3 breeding pairs. The local conservation group has put that down to so many people using the nesting area to walk their dogs more frequently during lockdown. We got a lot of clueless people driving out to where we live, but even locals walked their dogs off the lead on the breeding ground and many of them had no idea how much damage their dogs were doing. The general consensus is that if it isn’t actually munching on an animal’s bones it probably hasn’t caused harm. That’s not correct.

Yes.

It makes me so angry that farming practices are being blamed for the loss of these beautiful birds when the only things that have changed in the way 'my' farmland is used over the last 100 years is the amount of loose dogs on it and the number of other uncontrolled predators.

We actually have fewer sheep on the same moorland than our ancestors used to. It's not touched by motor vehicles, it's no longer officially gamekeepered. Curlew numbers are plummeting. Fox and badger numbers are skyrocketing. Dog walkers with dogs off leads crawl across the landscape like maggots. But its our sheep that are apparently to blame.

@MsAdoraBelleDearheartVonLipwig thank you. It was awful. Can’t stop seeing it when I shut my eyes.
And @backinthebox apparently not - because it was a cat. The police have been lovely and are doing what they can, which is little unfortunately. Apparently she will have her collar felt and an order to keep them on a lead. The two dogs are notorious around here for being (a) fast and (b) always off the lead, even on my road. The owner is 100% responsible and I wish so much great I’ll upon her right now that it’s not entirely sane. Still not a word from her although she has our names / address. (Diwali mayhem around here tonight and I’m fantasising about a stray firework meeting her chimney stack)

My dog caused fatal damage to a cow. My insurance paid and the dog was put down. I was responsible, clearly.

My neighbour is a sheep farmer and regularly loses sheep to dog attacks because a footpath popular with dog walkers runs at the foot of one of his fields. He's fenced it off and created a huge earth bund inside the fencing so the dogs cannot see, but people like to walk on top of the 4ft bund, so they duck under the fence, there is then an electric fence but still they get through....
My friend has the last laugh - she has a New Forest pony that chases dogs out of his field. And he is fast! She often got cornered by dogs chasing when hacking out so turns the pony and rides at the dog which scares them off, so I think he's taken it one step further and quite enjoys chasing them, one of these days he'll catch and kill one I am sure, but any dog in his field has gone through or over 2 fences and a barbed wire fence followed by electric fence.

@Scrowy, interesting what you say about moorland. Farming gets it in the neck for everything and while some farming practices are clearly really bad for wildlife, reducing stocking densities should make life easier for moorland birds. But groundnesters and high predator numbers, and then loads of walkers and loose dogs, will not be a good mix.

My family dog as a child got into one of the sheep fields when he was an adolescent; the farmer made it clear to my mum that if he did it again he would be shot.

I can completely understand to be honest, it was utter chaos he had hundreds of sheep running wild. He didn't kill anything but the lives of those sheep matter and if the dog killed four sheep then that is awful, plus what else is the farmer supposed to do? Wait until the dog is finally finished killing?
FWIW I didn't know dogs would kill them :( I thought their whole thing was to round them up so we can kill them

As in theoretically kill them. I don't kill sheep. I'm a vegetarian 😅

Honestly, I think the way forward would be for farmers to start suing dog walkers for damages when ewes miscarry etc.

And of course dogs will kill... Most dogs don't have a herding instinct, but most will have some kind of killer instinct. Have you ever seen what a terrier will do to a rat or a rabbit? It's like that but on a larger scale.

FFS
pinkbalconyrailing
and the other poster that picked me up on it. I already said upthread I know I have a dog who would chase sheep. She has never chased them despite us living semi rural because I rarely walk her in fields with sheep. If I have to she is kept on a short lead

thousands
that was to illustrate that dogs 'just' playing with lifestock can cause real damage.
I am glad that you are a responsible dog owner

It killed 4 sheep? Of course it should be put down... Sounds like a very aggressive dog.

I can (and have -purely by accident) walked my dog off lead through a field containing sheep.

I don't do it (knowingly) because I'm not an idiot.

It's well known that loose dog and sheep are a bad mix and liable to get the dog shot.

What disgusts me is that sympathy is always for the "poor" dog and never for the poor sheep that have been injured and killed (nor the lambs that will die of their mother is killed and the farmer can't work out which is her offspring). It's like people don't see sheep and "proper" animals - they are just written off as farmers' profit.

The dog sounds dangerous and out of control. No normal dog would go on a sheep killing spree.

Coronalswatching oh my god.

@CoronaIsWatching

The dog sounds dangerous and out of control. No normal dog would go on a sheep killing spree.

Um... yes, it would. Plenty of normal dogs have a lot of prey drive. I currently have a puppy who is far too interested in sheep and chickens for her own good, and will have to be taught to disengage from them.

I think that's the mistake a lot of owners make: they think that because Fluffy has never switched on in their presence, Fluffy never will switch on. Give Fluffy a nice open stretch of grass with fleeing prey animals, and Fluffy will be off.

@MatildaonaWaltzer the Dangerous Dogs act can be used in any situation where the owner does not have control of their dog. There does not even have to be any harm caused, only the fear that harm could be caused. There are plenty of police officers (including the ones that came to my house when the husky attacked my birds) who are not fully familiar with the act and need a bit of nudging to read it properly.

As for ‘no normal dog...’ we have had chickens killed by a west highland terrier, a clumber spaniel and a sheltie in the past. There are a LOT of ignorant dog owners out there!

@CoronaIsWatching

The dog sounds dangerous and out of control. No normal dog would go on a sheep killing spree.

Don't be so fucking ridiculous.

Dogs are predators. It's totally normal for dogs (especially those breeds that have been bred to hunt and chase) to chase other animals. The dog is simply being a dog. The owner is entirely at fault for not keeping their animal safe at home or on a lead.