'Dead lambs everywhere': Farmer on horrific dog attack that claimed 50 of his flock
Up to 70 sheep have been killed in two separate dog attacks in counties Offaly and Kildare.
Gardaí are investigating two separate incidents in which up to 70 sheep were killed by dogs in recent days in counties Offaly and Kildare.
In Moneygall, on the Offaly-Tipperary border, up to 50 lambs on the farm of John Healy were killed in a dog attack.
An emotional Mr Healy described it as a "horrific" attack.
"I got up and went to work on Saturday morning and my mother rang me. She lives in the village.
"The field where the sheep were was three quarters of a mile away from her. She rang me at half eight in the morning to say that there was a lamb in her back yard.
"I rang my (teenage) sons and I asked them to go up to see if there was something wrong because the field is sheep proof. I said 'they (the lambs) can't get out.'
"I sent up the boys and they rang me crying on the phone saying 'there is dead sheep everywhere," he told on RTÉ.
"They were dead on the lane. They were dead in the field. Then Cathal (his son) saw the dogs. I told him to go after them to see where they go.
"He got within 30 yards of one dog. A big black sort of heavy built dog. The other dog ran away and I was heading home at this stage.
Mr Healy said that the lamb that ran as far as the house of his mother was clearly "terrified".
"The field where they were in sheep can't get out of it. That sheep was obviously driven out through the bars of a gate and ran down the lane terrified. There was 120 lambs in the field and 50 were killed.
"There was 11 lambs crammed in to a corner and I never want to see what I saw there again. They couldn't escape.
Mr Healy says that two dogs were involved in the attack. He has now had to put the rest of his sheep indoors for fear of another incident.
He has called on the owner of the dogs to put them down.
"Big black heavily built dogs. Well fed dogs. These dogs went home somewhere and I am just pleading with whoever owns them to put them down because they will kill again."
Mr Healy said that the lambs who were attacked but survived are "petrified".
"They are down beside the house. If you move suddenly they are gone. They will probably never thrive. Once sheep get dogged they will never thrive. I don't know what way they will turn out.
We have had dog attacks throughout the years but nothing to this scale. I don't think this scale has been seen anywhere in the country.
"Those dogs that came to me had one thing in their head and that was killing. Because it wasn't hunger. There was no lambs ate. They were all chopped and killed. It is devastating for our household. The children and everything. It is a nightmare."
The Irish Farmers' Association has said at least 12 sheep were also killed in a separate dog attack at Moyvalley in Co Kildare, with a further eight sheep missing.
“The devastation caused by these attacks is shocking. For any farmer to go and check your stock and to find a scene like this is very distressing,”
IFA sheep chairman Kevin Comiskey said stronger regulation was needed.
“It’s simply not good enough for dogs to be allowed to roam free and cause the level of damage that took place in recent days. We need stronger regulation around dog ownership,” he said.
Mr Comiskey led a delegation to meet Ministers Heather Humphreys and Charlie McConalogue earlier this year and they put forward strong measures that are needed to curb dog attacks.
"Unfortunately, we haven’t seen progress on any of these proposals in the past number of months and the attacks have continued.
“The persistent failure of the authorities has frustrated farmers who have suffered significant losses as a result of dog attacks, and those attacks continue to take place across the country,” he said.
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