Welsh farmer condemns Cardiff inaction on sheep ‘slaughter’ after quadrupling of dog attacks

Figures published this week by NFU Mutual on the cost of attacks on livestock across the UK show that the situation in Wales has gone from bad to worse.

Gareth Wyn Jones – described by the BBC as “the nation’s favourite farmer” – is condemning Cardiff’s inaction over what he says is “the slaughter of defenceless animals on the hills of Wales.”

A year ago the media was reporting that there were four times more attacks than in comparable parts of the UK.

Rise in attacks

Now new figures for Wales show that, just in the last year, there has been a further doubling of attacks.  The increase for the rest of the UK was only 11%.

This means that over the last three years, while attacks on livestock in the rest of the UK were up a third, in Wales there was a staggering four-fold increase in dog attacks.

In his assessment of the figures, Gareth Wyn Jones who farms in Conwy said, “The slaughter of defenceless animals on the hills of Wales has got even worse, yet down in Cardiff the Welsh Government is pretending there is no crisis.

“We must do everything we can to save the dog’s life and the sheep’s life. Allowing e-collars to be used by properly trained people could help reduce the number of attacks.”

Rethink

Former police dog trainer and founder of the Association of Responsible Dog Owners, Jamie Penrith, says better training of dogs is needed and that the Welsh ban on safe aids such as e-collars needs an urgent rethink.

Mr Penrith from Cornwall said, “E-collar training creates a long-term aversion which stops the dog from ever wanting to approach sheep – even if they have escaped from their homes or owners.

“The Welsh Government’s response of just encouraging owners to use leads is great for training humans, but completely fails to train the dogs. And it is the dogs which have the teeth which are causing so much suffering to Welsh sheep.”