The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association has called for the introduction of tougher legislation to help combat dog attacks on Irish livestock.

New legislation in Scotland will see fines of up to £40,000, or 12 months' prison, handed down to dog owners who allow their pets to chase or kill livestock.

The Scottish legislation has also been updated to widen the definition of livestock to include animals like alpacas and llamas.

ICSA sheep chair, Sean McNamara, said that last week, he had witnessed the "aftermath of a particularly distressing incident involving cattle who fled into a bog to escape from a number of marauding dogs".

"The whole episode has had a devastating impact on the farmer concerned, and all because the dog owners involved were too complacent about where their dogs were and what they were doing.”

“We see, year after year, that the problem is not going away. Campaigns aimed at raising the awareness of the need to control dogs around livestock are proving woefully inadequate.

"It is time for our legislators to get tougher on this issue and set about legislating for the sort of fines that are commensurate with the amount of needless damage being done.”