A farmer is counting the cost after one of his prized sheep was “ripped to shreds” in a dog attack.
Andy Pedgrift found the Cheviot ewe with severe wounds to its head onThursday night. Two other animals in the flock had also suffered injuries.
It is the latest in a string of attacks on his sheep, which Mr Pedgrift estimates has cost him thousands of pounds.
Mr Pedgrift, who lives at Northlees Farm in Kinfauns, had checked on the animals, which were in a “secluded” rented field just off Duechny Woods, near Kinnoull Hill, at around 3.30pm.
He later received a phone call alerting him to the incident and says he has been left out of pocket, adding: “I got a phone call at about 7pm, saying there was a sheep on its back it had died or was just about dead. It was just ripped to shreds.
“There were two other ones with big gouges in their cheekbone and mouth, but they’ve recovered a wee bit. They are out eating grass now but they’ve needed a few injections of antibiotics.
“They were nice sheep in really good condition. They are worth £125-130 but you need to pay £15 now to have them taken away; you’re not allowed to bury them on your own land.”
He added: “I think a dog isresponsible. I don’t know what type of dog but I saw another sheep, which belonged to someone else, attacked in the face like that so I think it was a smaller dog.
“If it was an alsatian orsomething, they would have pulled it down and gone for the neck.The dog would have been coveredin blood.”
Mr Pedgrift said it is not the firsttime his livestock has been mauledand urged all dog owners to keep their pets on leads on farmland.
“I’ve lost a lot of sheep since we’ve been here due to people with dogs it’s more than 30 in 20 years,” he said.
“Sometimes the sheep were lower in value and sometimes they were more but if you average it out at £100, that’s £3,500 I’ve lost to people with dogs. It’s heartbreaking and frustrating.”