[Me]

Ok, fair enough. Gun (lots of practice) Hole Spade Alibi! And no potential sheep defence is probably not worth getting a gun license on its own.. depending on the frequency and severity of the problem I suppose.

[harmony]

I think the moral is not to have a word and expect the dog owner to do something. Go to the police straight away. Difficult when it is a neighbour but so often sheep worriers are serial offenders because the owners are irresponsible.

Shoot if you are competent to do so but why is an alibi needed? If you lawfully own the gun and followed the law you shouldn't need one. Lying to a policeman isn't a smart move.

[Me]

 

[moony]

If I could catch the dog I would take it for a drive and get the dog warden to collect it. If its not chipped its then likely to be up for rehoming, if it is they get a bill and you can do the same thing again. They will soon get the message to keep it under control. I wouldn't go down the shooting route unless you already have a gun license and are a very good shot, although you are well within your rights.If you are going down that route make sure you report it to the police as soon as you have done it.

[Tim W]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-I0d8hVZJs   

[Womble]

LOL Tim, I watched that right till the end, waiting for the clever bit to come after the sarcasm!

Re shooting, you need to to have a reason to apply for a firearms certificate (i.e. a rifle, not a shotgun - that's different for some reason). I'm pretty sure that if you wrote down 'killing out of control dogs that attack my sheep' as your reason, you'd be swiftly turned down!

[Porterlauren]

You can get dogs put on your FAC ticket, if it's a common problem. . . . so the FAO must accept it as a decent enough reason.

[devonlady]

Moony, that would just move problem to someone else's sheep. Have you a Dog Warden locally, they are usually pretty swift in getting to the problem, they aren't just there for picking up strays and pouncing on people who don't pick up after their dog.
I agree though that the dog is best re-homed in a town or PTS.
Too many people move to the country to give their dogs "a bit of freedom" and say "Oh!, he's only playing" when the dog is chasing heavily pregnant ewes. Even a Chiahuaha chasing sheep can do damage then!
You could put up large notices in prominent places stating that so-and-so's dog is worrying sheep in this area, naming the owner and a description of the dog.
A big problem everywhere

[Me]

You can get dogs put on your FAC ticket, if it's a common problem. . . . so the FAO must accept it as a decent enough reason.

Really?

[Castle Farm]

The owners of these dogs are totally responsible for the actions of their dogs. If you don't sort it out your allowing your animals to be injured or killed.


Tell the police that you intend to destroy the dogs if it happens again and get an incident number.
They would be dead if they did that around here.

[madcat]

Involve the police and also name and shame the dog owner locally.

[devonlady]

If the police don't seem interested tell them you may shoot the owner if it happens again. They'll be round like a shot!!

[Porterlauren]

Me - Yes. Like you can apply for a pistol, captive bolt etc, to dispatch stock, and in the old days, foxes.

[Me]

Ok good. Seems fair enough to my mind but hadn't heard of it.

[landydan]

A good 12bore should do the job! That will stop all your problems