A HORRIFYING attack on a sheep at a Dartmoor beauty spot last week has sparked a warning to dog owners to keep their pets under control and on leads as the lambing season gets into full swing.

Dartmoor Livestock Protection Officer Karla McKechnie was called immediately to the scene at Grenofen by Jo Macaskie, who witnessed a Rottweiler, one of two which had been let out of the back of a motor home, attack a sheep.

Karla said: ‘Jo actually did really well in pulling the dog off the sheep, which ran off in a state of shock. Unfortunately despite searching we couldn’t find it, which means it could be suffering badly and its wounds could become infected.

‘The thing is it’s just not acceptable in this day and age to have irresponsible dog owners letting their dogs run amok like this. Dogs are actually a luxury people choose to have, whereas sheep are a farmer’s livelihood. I am getting calls pretty much every single day now about dogs chasing or attacking livestock, it’s just awful.

‘From March 1 to July 31 is the lambing and bird nesting season and dogs must be on the lead around livestock on Dartmoor — it’s a National Park by-law.’

The owner of the dogs was cautioned by police but the incident had a profound effect on the witness.

Jo said: ‘We all see the publicity around dog attacks on sheep, but this morning having witnessed an unsupervised dog attacking a sheep, this really brought it to the forefront for me. It was upsetting to see and frightening — without thinking I put myself in danger by getting the dog off the sheep. This was possibly not a safe move, however, my instincts took over to save the sheep from this horrific incident.

‘I wanted to share this experience with dog owners to reiterate the responsibility we have to ensure that dogs are kept on leads around livestock so this does not keep happening.’

If you witness a dog chasing or attacking livestock call Karla immediately on 07873 587561.