The incident occurred in Lilley Bottom, on Saturday 20 February.
At around 9.30am, a dog got loose and made its way into a field where it began to attack several sheep. Sadly, one was fatally injured.
The dog’s owner, a 55-year-old man, collected the dog and accepted full responsibility for what had happened, offering to compensate the farmer.
With the agreement of the farmer, the dog’s owner was issued with a community resolution on 23 April, which required him to make the payment.
PC Art Wilkes, from the constabulary’s Rural Operational Support Team (ROST), said: “The number of sheep worrying incidents reported across the county have increased in recent weeks and we’re calling on dog owners to please ensure they are being responsible.
“It is crucial that you keep your dog on a short lead around livestock, even if you can usually trust it to come when called. If you live in or near an agricultural area, you must also make sure that your dog cannot escape from your property as it may find its way onto land containing livestock.”
Under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, if a dog worries sheep on agricultural land, the person in charge of the dog is guilty of an offence.
The act considers sheep worrying to include attacking sheep, chasing them in a way that may cause injury, suffering, abortion or loss of produce, or being at large (i.e. not on a lead or otherwise under close control) in a field or enclosure in which there are sheep.
The act does not require livestock to be killed for this offence to be committed.
If you see an incident of sheep worrying in progress you should call 999.
