Hey, it's not just sheep, either, Phil:
He added: “There is a real concern amongst sheep farmers in the UK that the situation is spiralling out of control and becoming the norm. As reported in the survey, farmers are taking what steps they can to protect their flocks including displaying signs, moving sheep to areas with less public access and working with communities via social media but unfortunately these actions seem to be having little impact in improving the number of incidents.”
Start taking the only action these people will understand - shoot Fido dead in front of them!
The findings of the survey also showed 82% of respondents strongly agreed that additional powers are necessary to act as a deterrent to dog owners allowing attacks to happen.
Why? Most of the current powers aren't enforced, why give lazy cops even more to ignore?
Mr Stocker continued: “The Kept Animals Bill is well behind schedule which is frustrating on one hand, but I still don’t believe that it is fit for purpose, still not requiring dogs to be on leads when in fields with sheep and suggesting maximum fines for those found guilty being limited to £1000 in England.
“This compares to a recent change of legislation in Scotland that has seen the same crime punishable with up to a £40,000 fine or prison sentence. This disparity must be addressed. A lack of punishment and continued varied responses from police rural crime teams across the UK is frustrating farmers who are experiencing great upset as well as financial loss because of this issue.”
Do you see 'animal lovers' assisting farmers? Harrying morons with loose dogs the way they harry hunts or animal testing labs? No...
