Another dog problem , I m *really* not a dog hater

I don't live in the country but I understand from reading Liz Jones diaries and book that rogue sheep dogs "happen" from time to time. Liz herself found that one of her own adored dogs was a sheep-worrier to put it euphemistically (sheep killer to put it accurately).
You don't have to be anti-dog to acknowledge that this is a terrible problem for farmers and lets be honest horrendous for the poor sheep.
45 is a lot !
Have wolves been re- introduced in the UK ? A pack would explain the numbers.
Not to be flippant you're not that far from Cornwall in Devon are you ? Don't think it could be the dreaded" Beast of Bodmin" thought to be a Big Cat escaped from the zoo ?
Hope that the rogue creature or creatures are caught soon .

What is wrong with some dog owners. Sounds as if it might have been deliberate with more than on dog being let loose.

It's sick.

Whatever it is it needs to be caught soon as it/ they will go on the rampage again.
I feel very sorry for the farmer. It must have been devastating seeing that carnage.

Smileless2012

What is wrong with some dog owners. Sounds as if it might have been deliberate with more than on dog being let loose.

It's sick.

Not necessarily - we had an incident near here a few years ago which involved two dogs which had killed a number of sheep after getting out of their garden when someone accidentally left the gate open.
I remember being at a friend's house when I was a high school - she lived on a farm and her older brother came in with a German Shepherd which he had had to shoot after he found it worrying the sheep.

It can’t have been a sheepdog with huge paws like that.
I hope they manage to track down the dog and owner responsible because there’s a high risk this will happen again if not.

Like foxes in a chicken shed, some dogs will kill for the sake of it. Very large paws - much bigger than my 40kg German shepherd. Without wishing to raise alarm, I wonder if some owners of XL bullies have turned them loose rather than comply with the rules? That would be a huge cause for concern.

That was my fear too GSM. It’s heartbreaking…poor terrified sheep

I agree, it’s heartbreaking to see such carnage. And possibly some of the dead lambs were miscarried, I have no evidence of that but trauma can cause a ewe to miscarry.

That’s exactly what I was thinking GSM re Bullies mean

‘I mean’ posted too quickly sorry

A DNA sample should have been taken from the carcasses. This will show whether the animal is a dog, a wolf, or a big cat, and will also be used to match to suspected killers.

Born in sheep country, I know very well that otherwise lovable, well-trained dogs can turn into sheep worriers and then have to be destroyed.

As we all know, keeping male dogs in your garden etc. when they catch the scent of a bitch in season is well-nigh impossible, but the owner is responsible if the dog goes on the rampage while loose.

Wolves do have paws about that size, but unless one has escaped from a zoo or animal park, it cannot be a wolf, surely.

Last time I checked both Britain and Ireland were islands, so how could a wolf get there? They cannot swim either the English channel or the Irish Sea, and assuredly not the North Sea.

Surely, it would be far-fetched to suggest that someone mistakenly smuggled a wolf- cub into the UK, thinking it was a German shepherd?

This has nothing to do with how well, or ill-trained the dog is, or restricted to any particular breed. Even sheep-dogs can turn into sheep-killers!

Certainly, if you live in sheep country, your dog should never be allowed to run loose, Naturally, it is the dog owner's responsibility to make sure this does not happen,

I’ll just leave this here
I hope the owners are prosecuted successfully and go to prison.
Boy bitten in head by XL bully dog in Bootle, police say www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-68267358

Yes, I mentioned this on another thread Bluebelle but I think my post got lost amongst all the others.

This was a shocking case, there could have been more than one dog involved as there was so much killing and devastation.

I did wonder about a "Beast of Bodmin" scenario. This was Dartmoor but I wonder if such a creature (if it exists) would just take a lamb for food rather than do this?

Surely if they’ve all been bitten and massacred, some forensic lab can analyse the saliva and tell what breed has done this…there must be masses of forensics? Let alone the paw prints, some vet must have a clue?

Doesn't sound like A dog! Sounds like a wild animal pack attack! 45??? That is not 1 dog and paw prints seem very large for a domestic dog. Horrific attack

There there have been wolves being kept privately in Devon it’s entirely possible that some have escaped and not reported, there are also wolf hybrids being kept in the area.

what an awful thing to happen. It wont be a collie though as they have quite slim paws.

I live in a rural county and I have only ever seen a dog kill a deer once and it was horrific. It was a bull lurcher type dog and it was absolutely brutal (I reported it to the police but god knows if it was looked into)

Do you know, I also wondered if it was wolves

I wouldn’t think wolves have such large paws.

I've just googled GSm and it says:

At an average of four inches wide by five inches long, a wolf's forepaws are almost the size of an adult human hand. Large paws, with webbing between the toes, function like snowshoes, allowing for easier travel in snow and other conditions

That’s interesting. Much larger than a GSD then.

JaneJudge

Do you know, I also wondered if it was wolves

I don't think there are wolves on Dartmoor, unless they escaped from the Wildlife Park. One did escape years ago but was caught again, poor thing.

suelld

Surely if they’ve all been bitten and massacred, some forensic lab can analyse the saliva and tell what breed has done this…there must be masses of forensics? Let alone the paw prints, some vet must have a clue?

there must be masses of forensics?

Do you mean DNA evidence?

Wolves surely come in different sizes and if there was a pack loose surely the media would pick it up?
I hate incidents like this
Awful for the poor sheep the farmer and dogs generally
One of my Goldies has huge paws but not quite that big
I honestly think they are too soppy to tear out a sheep’s throat- they would probably want to play with them but a dog is a predator and you never know
Besides the poor things die of fright
It’s up to all of us dog owners to keep our dogs away from sheep
And I’m here to tell you that it IS possible to keep an entire male dog in the garden with bitches on heat around
I did it for years with my dear old Goldie
But I digress …