Stephen Browse

Devon

"One Saturday evening six months ago a call came in to say someone had seen a sheep of ours in distress next to a footpath. When I found it, I soon realised that the most humane thing to do was to get the gun and dispatch it as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

"Many sleepless nights followed.

"Looking back on events earlier in the afternoon, a dog walker had been seen repeatedly calling a wandering dog back from the canal footpath that runs next the field where the sheep was found and then having to walk into the same field to call his small Patterdale terrier back.

"I am absolutely sure that if this owner had walked another 100meters into the corner of the field he would have seen a lamb huddled in the hedge, bleeding and unable to move.

"When we reported the incident to the police. I got a crime reference number, however as nobody had seen the dog attacking the sheep nothing could be done.

"Financially we lost £100 but by far the biggest damage was dealing with the emotional stress and sleepless nights that followed.

"No matter how well you know your dog, Keep it on a lead."