Kerry sheep farmer calls for compensation fund after dog attack

A Kerry farmer is calling on the government to establish a national compensation fund for farmers impacted by dog attacks on their livestock.

Pat Harrington, who keeps a flock of Swaledale, Cheviot and Scotch sheep in Kielduff, close to Tralee, was speaking to Agriland after three of his sheep were killed after being savaged by a dog this week.

“It happened on Wednesday night (December 13) after work. I was working all day in Killarney. I came home and there was a knock at the door. It was my father Maurice. He said ‘your sheep are being attacked and killed above on the side of the hill’,” the farmer said.

Dog attack

Pat Harrington said he got his gun and a spot lamp before getting into the jeep with his father to find his sheep.

“We did a sweep at the back of the hill and as we were coming back down again, there he [the dog] was on the side of the road with one of our breeding rams, dead,” he said.

Harrington got out of the jeep and fired a shot, hitting the large black dog. However, the animal managed to run away from the scene.

The pair continued searching for the dog until fog descended on the area around 11:00p.m that night but were unsuccessful.

Along with losing a ram, the farmer said the incident also resulted in the deaths of two ewes that were in lamb.

The farmer estimated that his ram was worth up to €800, while the ewes would have been valued at €300 each.

In addition to the cost of replacing the sheep, he will also have to pay to dispose of the carcasses.

The farmer said that the rest of the flock seemed to have recovered from the ordeal yesterday but there is still a risk of the ewes aborting lambs or having still births next March.

Harrington said that a neighbour has also experienced “savage” dog attacks in the past week in which sheep were severely injured.

Compensation

In the wake of the incident, Pat Harrington is demanding that Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue and local authorities do more to clampdown on irresponsible dog owners.

He said that the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) leadership also needs to take more action to support farmers.

“We have to dip into our pockets and cover the cost of all this. The people with the dogs are getting away scot free with all of this. There is no accountability, no follow up.

“We can’t keep covering the costs of all these dog attacks all the time,” he said.

Harrington said that a compensation system will have to be put in place for any farmer who loses animals through dog attacks to cover the cost of replacing lost livestock.

He believes that this emergency fund could be covered through a small additional tariff being place on all dog licences.

“Not all dog owners are like this, there are great dog owners out there who look after their pets and they look after them well.

“I don’t want to be going out there at night shooting anyone’s pet, it’s the last thing I want to do.

“But when we have animals there that are being attacked at night and being killed, we have no other choice only go out and protect our livestock,” Harrington said.

Dog microchips

The farmer said he hopes that the issue of dog attacks will be dealt with “once and for all”, including a “proper system” where all dogs are microchipped.

“There’s no proper follow-up when there’s a dog attack; it seems to be brushed underneath the carpet every time. It’s forgotten about in a couple of days time. There has to be more done,” he said.

“There should be proper checks done to make sure that all dogs are microchipped and licensed.

“Any owner of a dog that attacks sheep or cattle should be made fully accountable, taken into court and pay every fine, veterinary bills, solicitor costs and cover the costs of the loss of the animal and reimburse the farmer,” Harrington added.