Police chiefs in the UK want to set up a DNA database to detect dogs that may be responsible for sheep attacks.

This is a result of an increased number of attacks on flocks in recent years. Reports from the all-party parliamentary group for animal welfare (APGAW) estimated that around 15,000 sheep were killed by dogs in 2016 alone, which in turn cost the farming sector around £1.3m.

Law

Presently in the UK, dog owners are not obliged to make a report to the police if their dog attacked any livestock and attacks are not treated as a recordable crime on the UK police systems.

As a result, there has been little reliable police data on the scale of the problem facing farmers and livestock owners.

Damages caused

Police departments from North Yorkshire, Devon and Cornwall, Sussex, North Wales and Hertfordshire have been taking part in an initiative looking at the true extent of livestock attacks in the countryside.

The forces analysed data on their systems from September 2013 to 2017 and found that there were 1,705 recorded incidents of livestock worrying and attacks in the areas in which the forces are situated.

Some 1,928 animals were recorded as killed and 1,614 injured, this alone costing £250,000 in damages to the farmers.

Some 11% of the incidents involved dogs that had worried or caused damage to livestock before and the dog owners were not present at the time of the attack in the majority of incidents.

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