Thought this was going to be a proper Good Friday, but not so far today.
The life and death of animals is something that many of us living rural lives are very familiar with, but I was not prepared for what I saw when I got a call to say that a neighbour had seen 2 dogs in the field chasing sheep.
When I went outside I saw what at first looked like an empty field, then saw the first 2 lambs that had been ripped open. The second was still alive, but far past anything anyone could do. All the rest of the sheep in the field looked to be huddled in a corner. I ran up there and soon realized that many more were in a very a bad way.
Back to the house to collect a shotgun and a vehicle to travel faster around the other fields, doing my best to quickly put down the lambs that I could not leave to suffer any longer. The dogs had been into another field and killed lambs there too. As I drove down the fenceline I found more dead and dying lambs and then saw a dog going after another that was already seriously hurt. With no owners around to call it back, there was nothing I could do but shoot the dog. I never saw the second one.
The vet was rung for and I also notified the police. It is illegal to shoot dogs in this country except in exceptional circumstances. Vet could only patch up one of the others, another 3 to shoot. By this time I had collected a .22 for humane despatch and passed it over - I had shot more than I cared for in one day.
Police have been and appear to be satisfied that I acted lawfully. They have taken the dog's body away and will try and see if they can identify the owner.
To cap it all, I then called around to thank the lady who first alerted us about the dog attack. Without her call, even more could have died. The door was answered by her husband who said to me "we don't want to know" and shut it quickly before I had chance to say a word. :confused3:
