Sheep mauled by hunting dogs
2010-03-25
Lise Beyers
HUNTING dogs claimed the lives of at least 20 sheep on a farm in Agter Groenberg near Wellington last week And to aggravate matters, most of these ewes were due to lamb. Farmer Ivan Harris of the farm Palmiet Valley, was summoned by a distressed worker early on Wednesday morning. He indicated that there were dogs in Harris’ field in which sheep are kept. “I immediately ran towards the field and what first caught my eye was wool scattered all over the place. “Two dogs were running wild amongst my flock, randomly biting any sheep they came across.” Harris had no choice but to fetch his hunting rifle and being an excellent marksman, he shot and killed both dogs instantly. Only then did Harris come face to face with the full scale of the damage which had been caused by the dogs. Twelve dead sheep lay strewn across the field and another eight were so severely mauled that they had to be put out of their misery. Harris then contacted the vet to see to some other sheep which had been attacked, which had suffered less severe wounds. “It is a gamble whether they will live, but we had to try and salvage what we could.” Harris said that the dogs belonged to a labourer who lives on a nearby farm, Lupinvale. “I am currently seeking legal advice to see whether the owner of the farm can be held responsible for my loss, which is sure to escalate into thousands of rands. “Farmers around here have an agreement that none of our employees are allowed to keep dogs, but some farmers choose to ignore this stance.” Harris added that farmers in the area have previously lost sheep to predators such as lynx and leopard. “We however manage to live with this, because it is a rare occurence and we live in a conservancy area. “These predators instantly kill their prey, while dogs just hack pieces of flesh out of them and then leave them to die a slow, agonising death.” Furthermore, Harris said that dogs which are kept by labourers on farms are used for illegal hunting. “In the past we have come across carcasses of endangered species which have been mauled by dogs.” According to the SPCA, dogs that attack livestock may be shot dead on site.
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