Anger as lamb is shot with air rifle (From The Northern Echo)

Lamb was killed with a high-powered air rifle at Dalton

8:49am Thursday 15th April 2010 in Animal Watch By Vicki Henderson, Darlington reporter

A FARMER spoke of his anger yesterday after a newborn lamb was shot and killed with a high-powered air rifle.

James Milbank, who farms at Gayles Field, in Dalton, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, found the lamb in a remote field. It had been shot twice.

Despite his efforts, the lamb, which was only a week old, later died.

The shooting comes after a similar incident in the same field last year when two lambs were shot and left for dead, although they survived the attack.

Mr Milbank said: “It’s hard enough keeping lambs alive generally without someone going around doing something like this.

“Whoever shot it didn’t kill the lamb outright – they just left it to die. It’s downright cruelty.” After carrying out his own post-mortem examination on the animal, Mr Milbank believes the weapon used is an air rifle powered by a gas canister or a .22 rifle.

The field where the lamb was shot is rented by Mr Milbank on the outskirts of the village, on a remote route usually only used by walkers.

Mr Milbank has more than 1,000 lambs across the farm and is concerned that the shooter may try to strike again.

Police have told Mr Milbank that the two shootings are probably connected and carried out by a local person, rather than a poacher.

“I think it’s someone who was out trying to shoot rabbits and got bored and decided to target something easier,” Mr Milbank said. “It’s probably someone young who has no understanding of country life and the effect their actions will have.

“We will have to stop using that field for young lambs from now on, which is difficult for us because we make plans so far in advance and we will have to change all of our arrangements.

“It’s a field that we rent and it’s quite far from the farm itself so we can’t keep an eye on it all the time. We might put older, stronger lambs there but we’ll have to keep the very young ones away from there.”

North Yorkshire Police are investigating the incident.