A horse has been badly injured and 15 sheep killed in dog attacks in a small area of Lancashire since January.
Equestrians in the Rivington area are now desperately trying to raise awareness of the possibly fatal consequences of not keeping dogs on leads around animals.
Sharon Hubbard told H&H a farmer has already shot one dog – having first done his best to stop it attacking his sheep – but the incidents have continued.
Her friend’s horse 27-year-old Jack* was found lying on top of the collapsed fence to his field four weeks ago.
“We got a phone call to say he was lying half in, half out of the field and we thought he must have had a heart attack so we went hurtling up there,” Sharon said.
“He’d crashed through it – we don’t know whether he ran through the fence to get away, or slipped into it, but the farmer later said he’d seen a dog chasing the horses.
“We got him up and he’d been lying on his leg, which is probably a good thing as he’d cut an artery – it wasn’t nice.”
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The vet was called and Jack was stitched and has since been on box rest.
“The vet says he will be ok but it’s going to be a long road,” said Sharon. “When we first saw him, it was touch and go because it was so deep, and the poor thing’s going stir crazy as he’s an outside horse.”
Sharon said there are footpaths going through the sheep farmer’s fields, which adjoin the horses’ land, and that she had her friends have also had trouble with loose dogs running up to the horses on bridleways.
“It’s common sense: if you’re near horses or livestock, keep your dog on a lead,” she said. “People might say ‘oh, the dog only wants to play’ when it runs up but horses and sheep don’t know that; they’re herd animals so they run.
“No one can say 100% that a dog won’t attack either as you can never trust an animal completely.
“I don’t know whether we just hear about this more but there seem to be so many attacks at the moment. I wish people would just think.”
*Not his real name
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
