Graphic image warning: 80 sheep lost following 'horrific' dog attack
Some of the sheep that were killed on the O'Donoghue farm in Lorrha, Co Tipperary. Pictured are neighbours that helped; Martin Young, Daniel Bugler and the land owner Michael Rushe. The sheep owner, Donal O'Donoghue was so upset he refused to stand into the photograph saying "I'm not able for it". Picture: Rose Mannion
A Tipperary farm family has spoken of the āhorrificā dog attack on their sheep that they expect will result in the deaths of over 80 of their flock.
After receiving a phone call early on the morning of December 27 informing him of the attack that occurred on his rented farmland around six miles away, Lorrha farmer Donal OāDonoghue was met with a scene ālike a massacreā when he arrived there, his wife Nuala said.
āThe sheepās faces were ripped off, there were sheep there with their faces off but they were still standing, not running, but in shock,ā she told the Irish Examiner.
āSheep were dead everywhere.ā During the attack, which the family say most likely involved a number of dogs, the sheep started running into a forestry plantation at the back of the farmland.
āIt took six or seven of good friends and neighbouring farmers with us combing all this land for two days, and what they tallied up was approximately 48 were dead, and mostly by attack,ā Nuala continued.
āThere were close to 50 dead upon discovery, and they had been scattered far and wide; and 20 more had to be put down straight away from the attack.
āThe vet thought we might be able to have 19 survive but of those 19, six have died as well.ā She said that the total death toll could reach as high as 80 to 85 sheep, of the 133 that were on that piece of land.
While the family estimates a financial loss upwards of ā¬12,000 taking into account the loss of livestock and the cost of vet bills and more, the psychological impact has most been significant, Nuala said.
āYou donāt know when itās going to happen again, you donāt feel safe or secure in a way. Youāre afraid itās going to happen again,ā she said.
āThe psychological effect to my sons and my husband who came on the scene and looked at these animals standing alive still with their faces ripped off, they just kept thinking ā āit could have been a child, it could have been a personā.ā She said that the dog attack appeared to be āfor sport ā these lambs werenāt eaten up, they were killed in the face and neckā, and then the dogs āmoved on, got the next oneā.
She added that she is speaking out about the incident to āhelp the farming community, as well as people, against very dangerous dogsā.
The Irish Farmersā Association (IFA) Tipperary North sheep chair JP Ryan told the Irish Examiner that action is needed now.
The IFA has repeatedly called for changes in legislation, including for tougher sanctions for those who fail to have their dog under control at all times, along with a single national database for all dogs in the country that identifies the person responsible for the dog.
Mr Ryan commented that the incident in Co Tipperary āwas a huge killā by ādogs powerful enough to kill that many sheep in one snatchā.
He suggested that āemergency legislationā be brought in to try and tackle the issue, with this attack following other severe dog attacks on sheep farms in the last month.
āThere is a huge financial loss to the farmer, it is demoralising and it takes security away from your livelihood,ā Mr Ryan added.
A Garda spokesperson confirmed that GardaĆ at Nenagh are investigating following reports of the incident.
GardaĆ and the local dog warden attended at the scene and enquires into the matter are ongoing, the Garda spokesperson added.
