Lambing time in the UK - Please keep your dog on a lead near livestock!

Glossop SNT - Keep dogs on a lead! 

March and April are the peak lambing times in the UK, although the main season runs from February to April and some farmers even lamb before Christmas. Lambing is and can be a very busy time for farmers. 

As a prey animal, even the mere presence of an unknown dog can be stressful for a sheep. It is vital you keep your dog on the lead around sheep, even if you can usually trust it to come to call. 

If you live in or near a farming area, you must make sure your dog cannot escape from your property, as it may find its way onto land containing sheep.

* It is every dog’s instinct to chase, even if they are usually obedient and good with other animals.*

Chasing by dogs can do serious damage to sheep, even if the dog doesn’t catch them. The stress of worrying by dogs can cause sheep to die and pregnant ewes to miscarry their lambs.

Sheep fleeing from dogs are often killed or seriously injured by their panicked attempts to escape, causing untold damage to fences and field boundaries in the process.

Dogs chasing ewes and lambs can cause mis-mothering issues, with lambs dying from starvation or hypothermia when they become separated from their mother and fail to find her again.

Dog bites can cause death in sheep or necessitate them being put down at a later date, or in less severe cases considerable veterinary bills and additional welfare issues as a result of flies being attracted to the blood and leading to a nasty health problem in sheep called ‘fly strike’. Injuries to sheep can also delay the normal farming routine, be it the mating season or administration of vital medicines and vaccines.

So please keep your dog on a lead near livestock”!

* If you allow a dog to worry livestock, you maybe prosecuted, or fined and ordered to pay compensation or worse (see attached poster) under the Animals Act 1971*

#KeepDogsOnLeads
#LambingSeason
#Sheep
#Farmers
#Livestock

#MakingDerbyshireSaferTogether