A Stranraer sheep farmer has hit out at a paltry £100 cheque for compensation after a dog attack caused three ewes to abort their lambs, days before lambing.

Willie Cannon who farms near Newton Stewart suffered a sheep worrying incident last March and recently received a letter from the local court for a £100 compensation. Mr Cannon said: “The attack caused three ewes with twins each to abort before they were due to lamb in April.


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So, we have the loss of six lambs, the cost of keeping three ewes with no offspring and a vet bill to check on the hurt animals. The compensation will barley cover the cost of the vet. My son and I calculated the loss at over £1000 when you put all the costs in. It happened in a field of 30 cross ewes which were attacked by two dogs. One of the ewes had her ear torn off and was badly mauled.”

The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2021 came into force two years ago, following a successful Members Bill brought by Emma Harper MSP, and after years of campaigning by NFU Scotland and The Scottish Farmer. The livestock worrying bill that will increase penalties to a fine of £40,000 or 12 months imprisonment.