Cheshire: 20 lambs killed by dog after owner ‘wanted to play fetch with him’
5th August 2024
A dog walker has been ordered to pay £4,500 after her dog was involved in a livestock attack causing the death of 20 lambs in Cheshire.
The Cheshire Police Rural Crime Team confirmed that the woman from Macclesfield was taking her German Pointer for a walk when he broke away with his long lead and ran off towards the flock as they were grazing in a field.
PC Jim Clark said: “On April 15th the dog named Alfie grabbed each lamb by the neck, violently shook it before spitting it out and moving to the next.
“The female admitted that she should have kept him ‘under control’ but told the court she wanted to play fetch with him on a long lead.
“More worryingly, only four days earlier on April 11, the defendant had been given a conditional caution at Macclesfield Police Station for a livestock incident occurring in February.
“One of the conditions was to keep the dog under control and on a suitable restraint at all times in public, irrespective of the activity.”
PC Clark added that this was the third attack the dog had been involved in.
WARNING: Graphic image below
Farmer’s loss
JP Andrew Pope told the woman: “As a result of your negligence, you caused loss to a farmer of 20 lambs.
“To put your mind at rest in terms of the dog, we are not ordering the destruction of the dog. It can effectively remain alive provided these things happen, but if you are found to have breached any of these things, the dog will be taken from you, by force is necessary, and put down.”
She was made subject of a contingent destruction order, which means that the dog’s life was spared on the condition she keeps him on a lead and muzzle at all times when in a public place and that it is only walked by someone over the age of 16.
The woman was also ordered to pay £4,500 in fines, costs and compensation after she admitted having a dog dangerously out of control.
Livestock theft remained high in 2023, at an estimated cost of £2.7m across the country.
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