Stuart McDonnell had his flock of 90 sheep attacked on Christmas Day in Tinure, Co Louth, with one sheep killed and several injured.

The attack happened at 10am and was witnessed by McDonnell’s father, who called his son to the field where two huskies were worrying the sheep. “It’s the second time this year our sheep have been attacked. It’s a regular occurrence,” McDonnell said. “We were lucky enough we got the dogs on site. The sheep were being attacked by two huskies and one of the dogs turned on us when we arrived.”

When he came upon the scene, one of the huskies attacked him, and he shot both dogs.

Under the 1984 Control of Dogs Act, a farmer has a right to shoot a dog if the dog is “shot when it was worrying, or was about to worry, livestock and that there were no other reasonable means of ending or preventing the worrying...”

McDonnell informed the gardaí within 48 hours of the incident.

Read more

Gardai appeal to farmers after man ploughs into flock of sheep

Graphic images: €2,000 loss to farmer as sheep mauled