A series of devastating livestock attacks have left one Welsh farmer close to breaking point.
Ben Jones, who runs a 65 acre tenant sheep farm on the outskirts of Hensol in the Vale of Glamorgan with his wife Julia, lost nearly a fifth of his stock due to dog attacks.
The couple, who have a five-month old daughter, spent years building up their farming business but are now close to giving it up completely.
Ben initially started renting land in Dyffryn where he encountered two of his sheep being killed by a dog and the stress of the attack causing most of his flock to abort their lambs.
“The field had a footpath going through it and many people use it to walk their dogs. Finding my sheep like that was just devastating. I don’t understand why those walking in the countryside just can’t keep their dogs on a lead. These attacks were so unnecessary,” said Ben Jones.
Wanting to avoid any further incidents, he started renting land on an annual tenancy in Hensol in May 2015 but has since then had three separate attacks on his sheep there.
“I thought this land here was more suitable because there is no public right of way through the fields. So you can just about imagine our devastation when we found our next lot of sheep savaged by a dog.
“In July this year six of our ewes were killed by a dog and eight injured. The lambs never grew to any significant weight afterwards and one of the ewes killed was a Texel that I only purchased two weeks before,” said Ben.
The Texel ewe had previously been wormed and bolused and was killed by a dog. The one attack alone cost him in excess of £1,800 including the loss of the ewes, vet fees and disposal fees.
'Stressed and damaged'
Another attack came at the start of October, following which nine ewes were killed and four were badly injured to the extent that they can no longer be used for breeding.
Two weeks later another three ewes were killed and three badly injured.
“The injured ewes can no longer be used for breeding. So, I am not only losing my livestock but the ones I have left are so stressed and damaged that I can’t breed from them anymore,” said Ben.
The most recent attack happened on Wednesday October 18, killing a further three ewes and injuring another four, an attack Ben saw in action.
“For some reason the attacks always happen on Wednesday. It’s really quite unbelievable. This time round I saw the dog while it was attacking a ewe,” he said.
“I tried to catch it but it ran away. I managed to get a photo of it but have no idea whom it belongs to or where it has come from. The advice I had from the police is to shoot it but I don’t have a shotgun license and it takes 16 weeks to get one. By the time that comes through I might not have any sheep left,” he said.
'Improved public awareness'
Farmers' Union of Wales Senior Policy Officer Dr Hazel Wright said production decreases due to the stress of the animals involved in livestock worrying.
“What we need to protect farm businesses from the severe financial and emotional stress, is improved public awareness coupled with central recording of incidences, tighter regulation and better enforcement,” Dr Wright explained.
“Because of such attacks farm businesses like Ben’s lose stock, production decreases due to stress on the animals, and farmers have to deal with their animals aborting lambs and calves and with that the loss of future earnings from stock.
“I urge those walking their dogs in the countryside to put their dogs on a lead and it also critical that farmers come forward and report such incidents to the police,” Dr Wright said.
