Re-occurring incidents of sheep worrying are still a major concern for farming families in Wales, according to Farmers’ Union of Wales Caernarfonshire county executive officer Gwynedd Watkin.
“Figures revealed by the Farmers Guardian earlier this year showed that there were more than 1,000 attacks by dogs in 2013, up from 691 in 2011, and a survey of 580 NSA members revealed 58 per cent see sheep worrying as a "persistent problem", with 63 per cent of attacks resulting in "invisible" injuries such as stress and abortion.
“Hundreds and thousands of walkers visit Snowdonia annually and we welcome them all with open arms, but we must ask them to act responsibly and not be tarred by the same brush as those irresponsible few that give a bad name to everybody else,” said FUW Caernarfonshire county executive officer Gwynedd Watkin.
“It’s not only tourists that allow their dogs to run freely in the countryside, but locals too. We have examples of local people, one at the beginning of this year in Bethesda, who should know better. Letting dogs out in fields unsupervised is not acceptable.
“Despite many calls for the public to be responsible and keep their dogs on a lead when walking the countryside, members are still having to deal with horrific injuries caused by dog attacks on livestock.
“The public needs to be aware of how dangerous their pets can be to livestock if they are being chased or, even worse, attacked by dogs on the loose,” added Mr Watkin.
The union is continuously supporting the Farmers Guardians ‘take the lead’ campaign and will continue to highlight the need for responsible dog ownership amongst the farming and non-farming community.
“We are calling on people to keep their dogs on a lead when they walk in the countryside, and encouraging farmers to use the "take the lead" campaign sign and display it on their farms.
“Farmers are continuously being inspected to ensure that they look after their animals in an appropriate manner, whilst some owners of dogs let their pets run freely and totally out of control. I appeal to all dog owners to ensure that they keep their dogs on their leads whenever they see livestock in the same field as their dogs, even though that may be on the side of a mountain where the animals maybe a long way away.
“Sheep, lambs, cattle and horses have been attacked, ewes are aborting due to the stress caused by being chased and some animals are even dying of exhaustion. This can all be prevented through responsible dog ownership and taking the countryside code of conduct into account,” added Mr Watkin.