The Northern Echo is campaigning to tighten legislation around dog attacks on livestock. Andrew Hitchon examines a lesser-known loophole in the current laws

THE impact of a dog attack can be devastating for sheep farmers – but some livestock owners do not even have the most basic legal protection when an incident takes place.

Current legislation does not cover animals which are increasingly being kept in this country, such as alpacas, llamas, emus and ostriches.

A Parliamentary body and a national police working group have called for the law to be updated to include 'modern farming livestock types'.

The groups, which both recently published reports about attacks on livestock, received evidence from the British Alpaca Society (BAS), including the results of a survey of its members about the impact of attacks.

The BAS survey found

• There were 33 separate incidents between 2005 and 2017.

• In the majority of those incidents alpacas were injured and in about 30 per cent of incidents at least one alpaca was killed or died as a result.

• In about one quarter of the incidents, in which alpacas were pregnant, they aborted.

• On only one of the reported incidents was there a footpath through the field/paddock

• In all the incidents only two dogs were destroyed as a result.

• In one third of the incidents the dog was with a person.

• In most incidents a dog breed was identified and these were mostly terriers and hounds/hunting dogs.

• The average cost to owners of vet fees, where a vet was required, was about £600.

• The average cost to owners was around £25,000.

But the society, which has about 1,200 members representing about 40,000 to 60,000 alpacas in the UK, said these figures were only based on the responses it received and the true picture was probably much worse.

Doug Steen, who has responsibility for welfare issues at the BAS, says it is possible social media is highlighting attacks more than previously.

But he adds: "Is it getting worse? That's quite a tricky one. My gut feeling is it probably is getting worse.

"Even if it's not actually getting worse, the level it is at at the moment is still significant, and the likelihood is it is getting worse."

Doug runs Teesdale Alpacas, just outside Barnard Castle. He has about 50 animals, but has never experienced an attack.

However Maggie and Paul Slingsby, who have 21 animals at Sandhills Alpacas, Tockwith, near York, discovered a dog had got under a fence and was chasing some of their stock earlier this year.

Afterwards they found some of them had puncture wounds on their noses and mouths. "One that wasn't injured was so terrified it couldn't walk, we had to carry it in," says Maggie.

They reported the incident to the police, who had been "fantastic". The attack was their second of 2018.

Maggie says: "People just think: 'My dog wouldn't do that', but they have got a switch that could flick at any time. They will hunt."

IF a dog enters a field and attacks sheep the farmer has protection under the Livestock Act, but because alpacas are not covered by the legislation, owners could be prosecuted for shooting a dog, and the police could not bring a criminal prosecution.

Doug says the owner could bring a civil prosecution at their own expense, but even if they win there is no guarantee they would be recompensed, and it could take a long time.

He adds that alpacas are often kept in very small numbers, they have names and are treated as individuals, almost as pets. Alpacas tend to live a relatively long time, often into their 20s.

Doug says he appreciates that sheep farmers with larger numbers of animals are also distressed by attacks, but he thinks such incidents are often particularly upsetting for alpaca owners.

"If people have them for that length of time they are part of the family, there is an emotional attachment and an emotional impact, quite apart from the sheer horror of the damage that can be done," he says.

In addition, some of these animals are, in the breeder's view, what would be considered pedigree livestock. Time and money spent on improving the animals' fibre and genetics could be "pretty much wiped out if your top stud gets killed or worried by a dog", or pregnant animals had abortions.

Doug says the alpaca industry wants a change in the law, but realising how difficult this is the BAS, the British Llama Society and British Camelids Ltd made sure they had representation on the groups looking into livestock worrying.

Both the All-Party Parliamentary Group and a national police working group have recommended that the legal definition of livestock should be updated.

Doug says there needs to be greater awareness, and supports The Northern Farmer's Lead The Way campaign in trying to get dog owners to keep their pets under control while in the countryside. The campaign is being run in conjunction with the Echo's sister publications, Northern Farmer and the Darlington and Stockton Times.