Impacts of livestock worrying

Derbyshire Times

As a part of Operation Recall, Derbyshire police teamed up with a local farmer and dog trainer to explain the impact that livestock worrying can have. (Credit: Derbyshire Constabulary)

Transcript

00:00I'm Gabby and I'm a small holder from Whitwell.

00:03Hi, I'm Caroline. I'm a dog trainer from Chesterfield.

00:10Sheep worrying isn't just the act of attacking a sheep.

00:14It's the stalking of the sheep.

00:16It's the chase and it's the worry, in the name,

00:21it's the worry of the sheep, of the dog being too close,

00:24too loud, too barky, too jumpy, everything around sheep.

00:28So it's a case of keeping your dog calm,

00:30keeping your dog engaged with you, with your high-value treats,

00:33working with good eye contact with your dog.

00:36Put them on a short lead while you're passing through the livestock.

00:39Once you get through the livestock, if they're good recalls,

00:42take them off or put them on a long line.

00:44Long lines are brilliant.

00:45Let them all have a sniff around and play,

00:47but you're still in control of your dog.

00:49In terms of the emotional effect on family life, things like that?

00:54I think it's really hard because you don't always find out

00:57about an attack initially.

00:58So you might actually go to check on your animals

01:00and find that one of them's been injured or has been killed,

01:03and that is the most horrendous thing to come across.

01:07And it isn't just something that I would suffer,

01:09it would be everybody in the family would suffer it.

01:12And, again, we know all of our sheep individually,

01:14and I'm sure I speak for many farmers who know their sheep individually,

01:18so it's like losing a member of your gang.

01:21And it is just really, really sad to see.

01:26And also, I suppose as well, if they're injured,

01:29you've then got the emotional side of trying to take care of them,

01:32trying to make them better.

01:34Or having to make bad decisions if they are too bad.

01:37Yes, having to have them destroyed.

01:39That has happened to a close farming friend of mine

01:41who's had to call the vet to destroy more than one animal after a dog attack.

01:46And as well as that, on the back of that,

01:48she then had to take care of the ones that hadn't been mortally wounded.

01:53And it's just something that you really, really don't want to do,

01:56because we love them,

01:58and it isn't something that you want to have to suffer,

02:01or that you want a member of your family to have to be exposed to either.

02:04It can actually cause people to choose to leave farming altogether

02:08after a serious dog attack.

02:10The stress can be that big financially and emotionally

02:13that people choose not to do it anymore.

02:15And I just think that there has to be a way for us

02:18to try and help this not to happen.

02:21As a dog trainer, what is your response?

02:24Because I get this a lot from people who have come up here off the track saying,

02:29oh, my dog will never attack a sheep.

02:32And I'd always say to that one is,

02:34are you willing to potentially bet your dog's life on that?

02:38I've got a German Shepherd who I bet my house on would never run off,

02:41but I wouldn't bet his life on it.

02:43So that's why we would always put him on a lead around livestock.

02:46One of the big things is know where you're walking.

02:48A lot of people just set off on a walk

02:50and don't know if they're on private or public land.

02:53So make sure you know where you're walking,

02:55but also make sure that you're present with your dog while you're walking.

02:58So you might have taken a great picture,

03:00but you don't need to upload it onto your social media at that point.

03:03You don't need to be texting your friends.

03:05Make sure you're present with your dog.

03:07You can read their body language.

03:09You know exactly if they've spotted something,

03:11if they're going to bolt or if you've got them on a lead,

03:13if they're going to pull you, that you might drop it.

03:15So just be really present with your dog.

03:17Please protect your dog, protect livestock,

03:20and keep your dog on a lead.

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