A farmer’s wife is pleading with dog walkers to keep their pets on a lead after one of her ewes was savaged by a dog in the third attack on stock over the past month.
Pamela Thomas had taken her mother-in-law to the doctor’s on Monday and returned to find the farm in a state of chaos.
One of her ewes was badly hurt with her leg “almost hanging off” while other sheep - including the ewe’s two lambs - had been chased and were scattered over the farm.
Mrs Thomas, 58, farms at Pentraeth, Anglesey, and is near the beach with public footpaths at the front and back,
She said: “I had to call the vet to put her to sleep because she was so badly injured, leaving two little seven-week-old lambs without their mum.
"She was still alive (when I found her) but nothing could be done for her.
“We’re not asking a lot, just put your dogs on a lead when you’re near stock, please.
“These (attacks) are easily avoidable, there is no excuse for it whatsoever.”
The attack comes after three of her hens were killed by dogs. In a separate attack a lamb survived a mauling by a dog.
Mrs Thomas said “This time the dog had pushed her to a gate. A ram had jumped over and escaped. But the dog had ripped the side of the ewe with its teeth and mauled her back. The vet said it was a big dog.
“It’s a regular occurrence. People insist on walking their dogs and letting them off without leads on our land. It’s their job to keep them on leads. It’s very stressful. They just let them run wild. It’s not good enough.
“At least two or three dogs a day are in the field. That’s why we have put ponies there to put them off. The owners would be mortified if their dogs were attacked.”
She claimed that one some occasions said runners wearing headphones allowed their dogs to run wild .
“It’s not rocket science. Put your animal on a lead please.”
The Thomas’ have tried to put up warning signs which are either broken or defaced.
Apart from the suffering to their ewe, the Thomas’ have also lost £200 - which is what the ewe was worth - as well as had to pay a vet to put her to sleep and a disposal company to take her carcass.
Mrs Thomas said the two young lambs had also lost their mum which means that she has now to bottle feed them.
She said: “It’s not about the money; it’s about the distress to the animals.”
PC Dewi Evans, Rural Crime Officer for Anglesey and Gwynedd said he hoped somebody with information would come forward and contact the police.
He said: “The ewe went through a horrendous experience and was left in tatters after the attack. If anyone knows who is responsible, or indeed if you are the dog’s owner, do the right thing and come forward.
"The Rural Crime Team are working hard trying to make it an offence for dog owners not to report attacks carried out by their animals.
“If anyone in the Pentraeth area has any idea who was responsible, please let us know.”
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