Sheep May Safely Graze

Spring is coming and the grass is just starting to grow a bit in our little field, but there is still not enough to feed our small flock – so we bring them into their little barn and feed them hay every night.

Ten days ago, the sheep were behaving strangely when I went to see them in the afternoon. They were very nervous and ran to me at the bottom of the field. Woolly, usually the first to come, wouldn’t let me touch her.

We found out later, that the previous night two adolescent dogs had got into a flock of sheep a few hundred yards from our field and killed four of them, and injured many more. Four of the injured sheep later had to be put down. All of the sheep were one-year-old ewe lambs being reared to lamb for their first time next year.

The owners of the dogs had lost them that evening and, when they couldn’t find them, left them out overnight. The following morning, they came to see the farmer next-door to own up to what had happened, and the police came to record the incident.

The farmer and his wife were very upset. They are good friends to us and we feel their distress too.

Our sheep were inside that night, but they must have heard the commotion and realised what was going on; and so they were nervous the next day. It is sickening. There have been at least three similar cases of dogs worrying sheep within a mile of here during the last two years.

We are fond of our sheep and are nervous about leaving them out at night now.