THE owners of a small flock of rare sheep have been left traumatised after finding four of their animals had been savaged to death, just days after discovering several others had been shot.

North Yorkshire Police said a Soay ewe and three lambs were killed by a dog in Scalby, on the border of the North York Moors National Park, near Scarborough.

Officers are investigating after the sheep, which are distinctive for their primitive appearance, were killed on Saturday. The lambs were three months old.

Police said they had spoken to the owner of the dog believed to be involved and an investigation was continuing.

Officers do not believe the attack was connected to incidents in which five of the same Soay flock were shot last month – with some found with air rifle pellets in their necks - which saw three of them die from their injuries.

All of the animals were less than 18 months old and one was a ewe with a six-week-old lamb, which had been orphaned.

The offenders behind the gun attacks were condemned as “idiotic” by North Yorkshire County councillor and farmer John Clark.

A police spokesman said dog attacks on livestock often resulted in death or severe injury, and had a huge impact on farmers and their livelihoods.

He said: “The message to owners is simple – keep your dog on a lead near livestock, even if they are in a separate field.

“I am urging dog owners to keep their pets on a lead, particularly in rural areas around livestock. Even the most mild-mannered dog can see sheep, especially lambs, as something to chase and kill. Naturally, the owners of the sheep are devastated by this attack.”

Soays are on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust’s At Risk list, alongside Wensleydale sheep, because there are between 900 and 1,500 breeding ewes in the country.

The primitive breed, known for surviving in the most adverse conditions, takes its name from the island of Soay in the remote St Kilda archipelago.