Pleas for people to keep pets on leads as sheep farmers tell of 'devastating' dog attacks

A young farmer from Shropshire says her family's farming business will never fully recover from a fatal dog attack that left more than 100 sheep dead.

Evie Rogers recalls how around 150 sheep - along with many of their unborn lambs - died after a dog that had strayed from a public footpath attacked them.

Although the attack happened around 10 years ago, Evie says the financial impact was too much for the business to recover from and where they used to farm around 800 sheep, that number is now closer to 200.

• Evie Rogers said that many who survived the initial attack died later on as a result of being chased and the exhaustion from that

"Those that survived from the actual attack died later because of a result of being chased and the exhaustion from that", explains Evie.

"So it left us with many lambs who didn't have mums. And that's even more difficult for us because they have to be hand-raised.

"It's just devastating for us as a business and we weren't able to replenish the flock to back to its original numbers because we just couldn't cope with it financially."

The National Sheep Association's (NSA) annual survey revealed that 70% of sheep farmers had experienced dogs attacking or scaring their sheep in the past year.

Of those, 95% had experienced 10 cases of sheep worrying.

And in almost 70% of cases reported by those surveyed, a single dog injured or killed multiple sheep.

• Rachel offers some advice to dogwalkers who pass sheep to avoid tragic circumstances for both the dog and the farm animals

The NSA says educating dog walkers about letting their pets off the lead is vital - because there can be deadly consequences on both sides.

"If you see sheep, lots of ewes and lambs, like we've got here just in the field, Keep a dog on a lead and keep it close to you", says Rachel Rose.

"You can choose to walk somewhere else it doesn't prevent you from going out into the countryside."

She warns: "Last Resort, farmers are within their right to destroy a dog in that situation. If, for instance, they will often lead, and there's no owner around."

• Faye Russell has a flock of sheep in Derbyshire and she says sheep worrying is a constant threat, especially at this time of year

"Sheep are more vulnerable to stress at this time of year, especially if they're carrying lambs. Sheep are not designed to stand stress in any way shape or form", says Faye.

"It's about education, we like to remind people about the countryside code. We want to share our beautiful countryside but that goes along with responsibility."

In the survey, the NSA also found the majority of farmers only find out sheep worrying has occurred on their land when they discover the evidence or are alerted by someone who is not the dog's owner.

As well as urging people to keep dogs on leads, the NSA and concerned farmers such as Evie and Faye are urging dog walkers to own up to an attack if the worst does happen, to prevent more worry over sheep worrying.