Police in Gloucestershire are using DNA testing methods to identify people behind sheep worrying incidents.
It follows news of a Cotswold farmer having to shoot a dog dead after it ran loose on farmland and attacked sheep.
According to Gloucestershire police, the farmer tried to catch the large dog first but failed to do so. The farmer had no other option left but to shoot the dog.
The police are now to carry out DNA tests to find the dogs responsible for sheep attacks. Swabs will be used on bite marks on the sheep to compare against dog DNA.
The force said there have been as many as 40 attacks in the past five weeks and have said this is “not acceptable”.
Police Constable Ashley Weller, rural and economic crime officer for the Cotswolds, said: "Every year farmers suffer the consequences of irresponsible dog owners, with many of their sheep being attacked and killed or losing their unborn young.
"Once again I am appealing to all dog owners to keep their pets on leads when they are near any livestock, no matter how much you trust them. This is for your own sake as well as the farm animals.
"It is an offence to allow your dog to worry livestock and farmers have legal rights, under certain conditions, to shoot the dog if they feel the livestock is in danger."
DNA from sheep
A Welsh police force has used DNA evidence to secure a conviction against a man charged with handling stolen sheep.
It is the first time evidence of its kind has been used in a conviction in Wales.
Dyfed-Powys Police acquired the crucial evidence thanks to the Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA), which used forensic techniques to take the DNA from the sheep, a process usually reserved for humans.
Andrew Paul Thomas, aged 39, of Bryncethin Road, in Garnant, admitted the charge of handling stolen property, having previously pleaded not guilty on the first day of a trial at Swansea Crown Court. He is due to be sentenced on April 11 last year.
