A farmer has said that he is still counting the cost of a dog attack that occurred on his farm in Co Louth last year that resulted in eight dead sheep, others injured and multiple orphan lambs.
The incident occurred at the end of February 2025 in the middle of lambing season on the farm.
On the day of the incident, the farmer, who does not wish to be named, said that his neighbour called him to tell him they saw two dogs roaming around land in the area and when the farmer went to check on his sheep, he met the two dogs running down the field covered in mud and blood.
He then discovered many of his sheep in drains in the field “some of them with ears and flesh ripped off”.
The farmer informed the Irish Farmers Journal that he proceeded to call the gardaí, the dog warden and then the vet for assistance.
The vet had to euthanise some of the sheep due to the devastating attack and eight sheep in total were lost due to the attack.
The dog's owners
The farmer said that he knew where the dogs came from, as his wife sees them every day when she goes for a walk on the roads. They decided to go to the owner’s house to inform them of what had happened.
“The dog owners arrived to their house as we did and said they had been looking for their dogs all day,” the farmer said, alleging that the same dogs appeared from around the back of the house still covered in mud and blood.
The farmer said that the woman was very nice about it and completely acknowledged what the dogs had done. The farmer stated: “She said the dogs were fully insured and that they would compensate me for the losses caused.
“They told us that the insurance will pay for it and that they were going to get the dogs put down themselves,” he said.
After the attack, the farmer said that “the woman’s husband contacted us and said he was fully insured and we should put in our claim, which we did, but we never heard from them again, they ignored all of our correspondence and phone calls after that”.
The farmer said he then gave up on that route, as the insurance claim had to go through after a certain time period following the incident.
Dog warden
Next, the farmer contacted the dog warden again, who also pursued the dog owners to pay the fine imposed, which the farmer claimed they also ignored.
After this, the farmer went back to visit the dog owners to try reach a solution. However, no resolution could be reached.
Legal route
The farmer then got talking to his solicitor in terms of taking the case down the legal route. He said: “My solicitor has now sent the dog owners several letters, which they have also not responded to.”
The farmer also contacted his local Irish Farmers Association (IFA) office to seek advice and spoke to an IFA rep who helped him to create an estimation of the losses he incurred due to the dog attack.
The farmer is now at a crossroads of whether it will be worth the risk to take the case to court, as it can be very difficult to prove, he said.
“Even if the owners are found guilty, they may still not pay up.”
He pointed out that the UK has recently brought in laws giving farm animals more protection from dog attacks including increasing police powers to seize evidence and unlimited fines for dog owners.
He stated that Ireland must look at introducing similar stricter laws to reduce the incidence of these devastating attacks.
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A farmer has said that he is still counting the cost of a dog attack that occurred on his farm in Co Louth last year that resulted in eight dead sheep, others injured and multiple orphan lambs.
The incident occurred at the end of February 2025 in the middle of lambing season on the farm.
On the day of the incident, the farmer, who does not wish to be named, said that his neighbour called him to tell him they saw two dogs roaming around land in the area and when the farmer went to check on his sheep, he met the two dogs running down the field covered in mud and blood.
He then discovered many of his sheep in drains in the field “some of them with ears and flesh ripped off”.
The farmer informed the Irish Farmers Journal that he proceeded to call the gardaí, the dog warden and then the vet for assistance.
The vet had to euthanise some of the sheep due to the devastating attack and eight sheep in total were lost due to the attack.
The dog's owners
The farmer said that he knew where the dogs came from, as his wife sees them every day when she goes for a walk on the roads. They decided to go to the owner’s house to inform them of what had happened.
“The dog owners arrived to their house as we did and said they had been looking for their dogs all day,” the farmer said, alleging that the same dogs appeared from around the back of the house still covered in mud and blood.
The farmer said that the woman was very nice about it and completely acknowledged what the dogs had done. The farmer stated: “She said the dogs were fully insured and that they would compensate me for the losses caused.
“They told us that the insurance will pay for it and that they were going to get the dogs put down themselves,” he said.
After the attack, the farmer said that “the woman’s husband contacted us and said he was fully insured and we should put in our claim, which we did, but we never heard from them again, they ignored all of our correspondence and phone calls after that”.
The farmer said he then gave up on that route, as the insurance claim had to go through after a certain time period following the incident.
Dog warden
Next, the farmer contacted the dog warden again, who also pursued the dog owners to pay the fine imposed, which the farmer claimed they also ignored.
After this, the farmer went back to visit the dog owners to try reach a solution. However, no resolution could be reached.
Legal route
The farmer then got talking to his solicitor in terms of taking the case down the legal route. He said: “My solicitor has now sent the dog owners several letters, which they have also not responded to.”
The farmer also contacted his local Irish Farmers Association (IFA) office to seek advice and spoke to an IFA rep who helped him to create an estimation of the losses he incurred due to the dog attack.
The farmer is now at a crossroads of whether it will be worth the risk to take the case to court, as it can be very difficult to prove, he said.
“Even if the owners are found guilty, they may still not pay up.”
He pointed out that the UK has recently brought in laws giving farm animals more protection from dog attacks including increasing police powers to seize evidence and unlimited fines for dog owners.
He stated that Ireland must look at introducing similar stricter laws to reduce the incidence of these devastating attacks.
Read more
Unlimited fines for dog attacks
IFA and Comhairle na Tuaithe launch campaign on dog attacks
Two dogs put down after eight sheep killed in Mayo attack
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