Farmer finds culprit of dog attack on sheep thanks to social media

17 sheep were attacked by two dogs, 12 fatally (Photo: Luke Smith/Facebook)
17 sheep were attacked by two dogs, 12 fatally (Photo: Luke Smith/Facebook)

A farmer has used the power of social media to successfully track a dog owner after twelve of his sheep were killed following an attack.

Luke Smith, a farmer from Forest Green, near Dorking, Surrey, stumbled across the gruesome discovery on Saturday (September 15) morning.

He found that 17 of sheep sheep, 12 fatally, had been attacked by two dogs.

The 26-year-old has since made a public Facebook post, urging the public for help in finding those responsible for the "horrendous" attack.

"It happened in Forest Green, and please ask you share this post especially in that area to help us find the dogs responsible, to avoid this happening again to us or anyone else locally," the post says.

In an update, Mr Smith said the online appeal led to someone claiming to be the owner of the two dogs.

He said: "We have found the dogs. Thanks to you and the power of Facebook this has happened and I could not thank you all enough for this support and help."

Speaking to Surrey Live, the farmer said the dog owner was kind enough to ring.

"She was obviously very distressed and extremely apologetic and I didn't feel that was the right time to go through the ins and outs.

"But I actually thanked her. There's no point being angry, it's not going to bring the sheep back," he said.