GLOUCESTERSHIRE Police are reminding dog walkers that it is an offence to allow their pets to worry sheep.

Worrying includes attacking or chasing sheep and in some circumstances, farmers are legally entitled to shoot dogs if they are endangering their sheep.

It may be a dog's instinct to chase sheep, even if they are usually obedient and good with other animals. However, chasing by dogs can do serious damage to sheep, even if the dog does not catch them. 

The stress of worrying by dogs can cause sheep to die and pregnant ewes to miscarry their lambs.

Sheep fleeing from dogs are often killed or seriously injured by their panicked attempts to escape, causing untold damage to fences and field boundaries in the process.

Dogs chasing ewes and lambs can also cause mis-mothering issues, with lambs dying from starvation or hypothermia when they become separated from their mother and fail to find her again.

Dog bites can cause death in sheep or necessitate them being put down at a later date. In less severe cases, there may be considerable veterinary bills and additional welfare issues as a result of flies being attracted to the blood and leading to a health problem in sheep called ‘fly strike’.

Injuries to sheep can also delay the normal farming routine, be it the mating season or administration of vital medicines and vaccines.

Sheep are valuable assets and any harm to them harms a farmer’s livelihood.

Therefore, it is vital that dog owners keep their pets on a lead around livestock, even if they can usually trust their dogs to come to a call. 

If owners live in or near a farming area, they must make sure their dogs cannot escape from their homes.