A pet lamb at a farm near Killin was left with a horrific injury when its ear was ripped off by an out of control dog.
The horrified farmer discovered the family pet’s gruesome injury and suspects it was the result of a possible dog attack.
Three-month-old Lenny the lamb was found in his field with his ear brutally ripped off at around 9am on Sunday.
The shaken lamb’s ear was later found on the opposite side of the fence.
Pictures snapped after the attack show the young lamb’s severed ear sitting on a fence post and Lenny with a large wound on the side of his head and drenched in blood.
The farmer, who wished not to be named, said her livestock have been attacked by out of control dogs in the past. In one case, she witnessed a dog ‘run riot’ in her field before it hunted down a sheep and mauled it to death.
In another, she saw an unleashed dog chase one sheep into a nearby river where it sadly drowned.
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She said: “I was heartbroken for him to be in that much pain. Lenny is such a friendly little lamb. He will come up and say hello to people and likes to be petted. I believe this was a dog attack.
“We’ve had incidents before where a dog has been let loose in a field full of sheep. There have been deaths - and some of our sheep have been badly mauled in the past.
“Once a dog gets a taste for it, there’s nothing that can make them stop.”
In a post on the Killin Community Noticeboard Facebook page, the farmer said: “Keep dogs on leads when near livestock.
“Animals don’t deserve to suffer like this because of dog owners’ carelessness. It takes only a second for a dog’s instincts to take over and an incident like this to take place.
“We are asking the community to please help keep our animals safe by reminding any tourists and visitors you see with unleashed dogs to put their lead on – feel free to show them these pictures if they question you.”
Lenny was treated with antibiotics and painkillers. However, his owner has been left fearing that his condition could worsen if infection sets in.
She added: “It comes down to natural instinct and it can happen to any dog. You could have a family dog that is amazing with children but as soon as it is introduced to livestock it will turn feral.
“It could also happen to a dog that takes the same walking route every day and a switch inside their head and they’re locked on. It can be the nicest dog ever and that is the sad thing.
“In the past, people have visited from the city and left their dog off the leash. It’s not until it is chasing our stock that they realise they have this instinct.”
Police Scotland were not called to the scene.
It’s the most recent livestock worrying incident. In May last year, we told how a man was charged following a sheep-worrying incident on farmland near Gartmore. The incident at East Gartfarran Farm involved two dogs chasing and injuring sheep. As a result one sheep was killed and two others were injured. An 84-year-old man was charged in connection.
That same month, we reported how seven lambs were killed by a dog in an horrific sheep-worrying attack on farmland in Cambusbarron. The animals – aged just two to three weeks old – were mauled at Touch Mollar, part of Touch Estate, near the village. Farmer John Owen discovered the dead and dying lambs scattered across his 20-acre field. Four had died, three were left paralysed and had to be put down and two others were injured. A vet said they were likely attacked by a Collie or Labrador type dog – judging by the teeth marks.
In March last year, a Drymen sheep farmer said he was at his “wits’ end” after one of his animals was attacked by a dog. John Pirie runs Blarnavaid Farm and he was left treating one of his black-faced ewes after it was severely injured in a dog attack. Mr Pirie discovered the injured sheep – which was mauled on its back end, leaving gruesome wounds.
Under new law brought into force in Scotland in November 2021, owners of dogs that worry livestock can face being fined up to £40,000 or sent to jail for 12 months.
