Sheep worrying

As I write, the tourists are back in the village and the streets and footpaths are once again teeming with day trippers making the most of the spring sunshine.

Farming bodies have called for further promotion of the Countryside Code to help tackle increasing ’anti-social behaviour’ incidents which are putting farmers, livestock, wildlife habitats and livelihoods at risk.

Photos of the aftermath of a dog attack which left a number of sheep and a pet dog dead have gone viral after being shared by online media platform LADbible.

New legislation aimed at addressing the increasing level of attacks on livestock, including raising the maximum fine to £40,000, has been debated in the Scottish Parliament.

50 in-lamb ewes were smothered and suffocated to death in a horrific dog attack.

A pregnant Highland heifer was mauled to death by a Rottweiler dog which had got loose without its owners’ knowledge.

Dog owners have been reminded to keep their pets on a lead around livestock after a farmer was forced to shoot a cockapoo which was chasing his sheep.

The Lynx UK Trust has singled out a forest near Loch Lomond, Scotland as a ‘lynx paradise’.

Members of the public have been urged by police and farming unions to keep their dogs on leads as farmers continue to suffer the financial and emotional effects of livestock worrying.

Ninety five per cent of sheep farmers have experienced a dog attack on their farm in the past 18 months, with 49 per cent of incidents proving fatal, a survey by the National Sheep Association (NSA) has revealed.