Savage attack on inlamb ewes in kilnaleck area
Sean McMahon
A distraught East Cavan farmer is appealing to dog owners to lock up their dogs at night after his flock of 32 sheep in the Kilnaleck area were attacked at the weekend.
Eight valuable Charlie Texel cross sheep, heavily in lamb, grazing on the farm in the Clonmult area, were run into drains on Saturday night and savaged alive by what is believed to be a number of dogs on the loose.
The monetary loss to the farmer, who does not wish to be named, is estimated at around €1,200 and could go higher given that other pregnant ewes in the flock were chased and worried, and there is a possibility that they will abort. Two of the savaged sheep may yet recover.
The distraught farmer told The Anglo-Celt that when he went to look at his sheep on Sunday afternoon, he found four killed outright and four more badly eaten, particularly on their backs. “They attacked the sheep when they got them pinned down in the drain,” he said.
Some of the sheep were grabbed high up on the hind flanks/hip area and the wool was pulled off them.
“They nearly half-ate one of the sheep that they had down in the drain,” he said. The sheep which avoided attack alerted the farmer that something was wrong. They took off immediately when the saw him, which was not in keeping with their normal, settled behavior. “This showed how frightened they were,” he said.
When the sheep’s owner was talking to the Celt on Monday of this week, he expected at least two more of the injured sheep to die. They were on land being used for winter grazing.
He explained that all the sheep were due to be lambing in March and the market price for a lamb in a factory at present is €120. However, ewes that are in lamb like these sheep are fetching around €200 to €220. The farmer said he was “really distraught” when he saw what he described as a “very traumatic scene” on Sunday night, which is now compounded by the financial loss.
He called on dog-owners to keep their dogs under control and keep them locked up at night.