A consultant for an animal rights group has inquired into the legal circumstances surrounding the shooting of a 15-year-old dog by a gamekeeper in Airlie.
Popeye’s owner Margaret Ford had been searching for her animal for more than a week before its body was found down a rabbit hole.
A gamekeeper admitted shooting the Collie, claiming it was worrying his cattle. Although he did not report the shooting to police, their subsequent investigation found his actions had been ”appropriate”.
Mrs Ford has talked of her struggle to come to terms with the circumstances of her pet’s death. She described Popeye as a ”loving and friendly” dog.
A police spokeswoman said a post mortem and a vet’s statement both concluded the dog had not suffered unnecessarily.
Although gamekeepers are entitled to kill dogs if they are threatening animals, Kit Davidson of Animal Aid contacted The Courier and police in an attempt to clear up several alleged ambiguities.
Mr Davidson said: ”The shooting of a dog in these circumstances must be reported within 48 hours. It could be assumed that any person shooting a dog, concealing its body and not reporting the incident within 48 hours could have a motive for not doing so.
”If a shot dog crawled into a rabbit burrow on its own, it must have been caused to endure unnecessary suffering, an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. According to the (Courier) report, Tayside Police ‘found his actions had been appropriate’.”
The Scottish SPCA is looking into the circumstances surrounding the case, as it has the power to lay reports for prosecutions.
SSPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: ”Any person who owns or is employed to care for livestock has the legal right to shoot an animal found to be out of control on farmland in order to protect those animals from being attacked.
”However, this action must be reported to the police within a defined period of time, which is normally 48 hours. It is very regrettable that this pet dog has been killed, but it is an owner’s responsibility to ensure that their dog is kept within their control at all times.
”We would always advise persons responsible for the protection of livestock that shooting an animal should always be a last resort, after other efforts to deter have been exhausted.”
Mr Davidson said: ”Please correct me if the law is radically different in Scotland than that in England and Wales but I opine it is not always appropriate for a gamekeeper to shoot a dog to protect livestock.
”’Worrying’ is defined as attacking livestock or causing it injury and suffering, or in the case of females, abortion or loss of, or injury to their offspring through being chased, or not being under close control in a sheep field or enclosure.
”An owner (or his agent) may only shoot a dog if it is about to worry the livestock and there is no reasonable other means of preventing or ending the worrying, or the dog has been worrying and has not left the vicinity, is not under the control of any person and there are no practical means of ascertaining to whom it belongs. He may only shoot the dog as a last resort.
”In this incident the Angus Courier reported that the gamekeeper involved had shot the dog in defence of his cattle. It would be improper for a gamekeeper preventing the dispersal of game birds assembled in the cover to falsely claim that he was protecting livestock.
”In your investigation I assume that these questions were asked of the gamekeeper who shot this dog. This was a 15-year-old dog. Its age must have been apparent to a trained gamekeeper. What danger did he assess it was to cattle?”
He asks further: ”Where was the game that he protected? Was he not protecting cattle but preventing the dispersal of game?”