A new livestock worrying survey has been launched to gather data from farmers on the frequency and severity of dog attacks on their sheep.
New analysis by NFU Mutual highlights how dog attacks remain at a historic record high.
The rural insurer estimates that the total cost of livestock worrying to the agricultural industry exceeded £1.2m in 2019.
Looking to combat this crime, the National Sheep Association has launched its 2020 dog worrying survey to gather data and inform its campaign.
“Dog worrying is an issue that affects so many sheep farmers across the UK and is extremely demoralising and frustrating for people,” NSA Policy Officer, Ellie Phipps said.
“In order to reinvigorate our work, we think it is important to have up to date information and data from those who are being impacted.”
The survey, aimed at sheep farmers, asks questions about the sort of attacks they have, how often they happen and how the attacks impact them – both financially and emotionally.
Miss Phipps added: “There are still a number of forces around the country that don’t have dedicated rural crime officers, and these are the areas that people tend to have bad experiences with.
“The more data we have to work with, the more we can add pressure to these areas to ensure they treat dog worrying like the serious crime it is.”
Sheep farmers are calling for the Home Office to make dog worrying a recordable crime and for the laws around dog worrying be tightened up to make prosecution easier.
Currently, there is no set definition of dog worrying for police to record it.
Miss Phipps explained: “Some may record an incident by each sheep affected (e.g. 30 sheep in one flock would be 30 cases) while others record one attack regardless of how many sheep (e.g. 30 sheep in one flock would be 1 case).
“Equally, the powers the police have when they do try to take action can be restricting.”
Any data collected as a part of this survey will help NSA’s position to back up its calls for legal change.
It will also be used as part of its 2020 dog worrying campaign, which will run in early March and be targeted at the public to try and encourage more responsible dog ownership.
