>

This is what happens when you dress your dog in a cute woolen jumper. The sheep trust them, then BAM unfettered bloodlust. Smh.
What kinda of dogs can kill 30 sheep by themselves? >

The notorious South England Werewolf >

Not seen since 1981 >

I think it was American though. >

Nah that one was in paris. >

Yeah, but the FIRST one was in London… >

The article doesn’t seem to mention how the sheep all died, if they were killed outright by the dog(s) or from their wounds/infection later on.  
We had a dog the size of a blue heeler attack 10 ewes in the night.  It scared the flock into a corner of the fencing and ate out their back ends and bellies… 4 died before we got there, the other 6 we had to either put down or died of infection over the next couple days (despite ours and the vet’s best efforts).  15 ewes were injured all together.
And our ewes were dry at the time (not pregnant, not currently raising lambs).
We managed to catch the dog shortly after the attack as it could barely stand it was so exhausted.
Its certainly plausible that this attack in Kent was the work of one dog, especially since these ewes were pregnant and at this time of year depending on their breeding schedule, they’re likely verry pregnant slow easy targets.
I’d guess at least two dogs though, since I’d imagine one dog would be so tired they’d have caught it?
It doesn’t seem to matter how well-mannered or gentle a dog seems at home, it’s such a deeply engrained lizard brain reaction to the sheep running away - which may be why they attack until exhaustion.  Some breeds might be more efficient at causing harm, but the likelihood of a prey-drive attack is pretty level across the board in my experience.
I’ve dealt with maybe a dozen dog attacks, and the majority of owners are in denial that their dog could do such a thing until we show them proof.  Unfortunately at times the law has to get involved. >

This needs to be copy pasta. Pet owners   tend to forget animal instincts and think they know everything about their pet.
When this shit happens they give the pokemon face. >

Definitely. Most dogs will kill chickens in the same way most cats will kill mice. Lambs, too. City folk move to the county,  let their dogs roam, and are often shocked when some farmer shoots their dog dead. >


PC Marc Pennicott of the Kent Police rural task force said: "This is a distressing incident which is possibly the worst livestock attack we have ever had."The farmer has not only suffered a financial loss due to this incident but animals have needlessly lost their lives.
"These dogs would have been covered in mud and returned home exhausted and we are committed to identifying their owners. "The remaining livestock have also been left vulnerable to a further attack, so it is extremely important that we find who is responsible for these dogs as quickly as possible."

Am a dog lover, but these need to be quickly identified and destroyed. >


Am a dog lover, but these need to be quickly identified and destroyed.

Really?
Dogs arnt Guinea pigs, many have high prey drives. Garnish the owner for restitution sure. But hunting and killing mid or large sized animals is something a ton of breeds are built to do. Not the Dogs fault at that point. >

It's not the dogs fault, but having been in the farmer's place before, irresponsible people are irresponsible. There's no guarantee they will contain the dogs, or keep them from doing this again to other farms, pets, or little kids. It takes extremely powerful dogs to kill 30 sheep. The dogs need to be taken from those owners. Most farmers just shoot them because they don't stop coming back. >

Tbf little kids tend to be kept more securely than livestock, its why child endangerment* laws exist.
Like I said garnish the owners and the problem should be solved, farmer gets payed without the overhead of rearing and crappy owner can't just replace the dog later.
Hell the story said it happend in a field between 4 and 5, you would thing they would have been penned in for the night by then >

You're assuming the owners have money to be garnished, or that they care enough to even try to keep the dogs in. In my experience, frequently, neither of those are the case. It's difficult to get some of them to even admit the dog is theirs. Then they just toss the dogs out in the same broken backyard fencing. 
30 sheep is enough to ruin some small farms, especially pregnant sheep they were hoping would bring in next year's lambs and keep their genetics going. Even if the owners somehow had the money (probably not considering they can't even fence in their dogs), it doesn't replace what they lost. Livestock aren't just a dollar value , many small farms have no insurance on them, and they won't be getting a lump sum from the dog owners, so good luck buying replacements. >

Thats why I said garnished not fined. You can garnish someone for decades till they pay restitution.
Story says the sheep were mauled around 4 or 5 in a field, that should have been about penning time, especially for pregnant ewe's.
Much of this is on the shepherd, anyone who knows what they a doing knows sheep are sitting ducks without protection usually a ton of ranching/farming is subsidesed in western nations anyway though so they'll probably bounce back >

You know nothing and the dogs should be put down and the owners should be garnished.  
Depending on the area most sheep need a bit longer to graze especially with it being winter, they need as much time out as possible because of the extra penning they have to endure during the winter months.  You are simply trying to pin blame on the farmer/s.  
Fact is a lot of morons don’t deserve to own dogs and shouldn’t be allowed to own dogs the owners would definitely have noticed blood and mud all over the dogs and chose to ignore it.  Hell I wouldn’t even be surprised if they watched from a distance and possibly even took a sheep or two. >

If its sundown and you still have animals in the field you need to be supervising them though that or have a guardian dog in the herd, this is part of being a Shepherd. It's not a job were ya can just clock out at 5 and leave your flock wandering around, its not a video game. >

You know we don’t have large predators in the UK, the only thing flocks needs to be protected from is thievery and mad dogs. >


the only thing flocks needs to be protected from is thievery and mad dogs.

Exactly thats why you shouldn't leave them unattended at sundown lol, especially unpenned >

Keep your dogs enclosed for Godssake. >

In rural areas dogs are usually free range. If they mostly stay home all is well. If they harass or injure the owner’s or the neighbor’s livestock they get put down. >

In actual rural areas, dogs are work animals and are not allowed to roam and I've been farming and teaching agriculture from East Sussex to Honolulu, Hawaii and everywhere in between for 40 years. >

Just reading the headline, I thought it had to be dogs. Even one dog can rip up sheep, and they do it for fun. Wolves, even coyotes, only kill what they need for food, and don't just wholesale murder everything that moves. Also, dogs like to rip the animal open and spread it out. I've never understood that part. >

As soon as owners are criminally liable for the actions of their pets, as if the owners had committed those acts themselves, people can own any pet they want. >

If you pet escapes because you don't do everything you can to contain it and it kills someone or their pet / livestock, yes it is your fault. >

Edit: oops, responded to the wrong reply lol. >

People need to learn to leash their damn dogs. 
Sheesh. >

Rural dogs are typically not leashed. But they are put down if they can’t be trusted around livestock. >

Rural dogs are typically not wandering the fields >

So true. Once they start wandering around in groups they are ruined, as they start to harass and kill wildlife and livestock. Sad, but they need to be put down. >

That's literally the opposite of what guard dogs do