I AM writing regarding the incident in which a pedigree ram and a six-month-old lamb died following an attack by a Staffordshire bull terrier dog in Leonard Stanley.

Whilst in the farmhouse at 2.30pm on Thursday, October 19, I heard the sound of sheep running in panic in the nearby field.

On investigation I could see one of the sheep isolated at the bottom of the 15 acre field and a black dog running through the next field in the direction of the public footpath.

I then noticed the owner of the dog walking towards Painswick a further field away with her back from the direction of the fields in which her dog had been running free.

I rapidly got into my Land Rover and drove around the lanes and met the owner of the dog at the end of the footpath.

The dog was, I believe, a Pointer, was now on a lead and was muzzled.

The dog owner shouted: “My dog doesn’t chase sheep!”.

On returning home I found the ewe that had been chased for some 500 yards very distressed with dirty marks on her wool and a glazed left eye from being knocked over or falling during the chase.

She will now be blind in one eye.

On Sunday, October 10 at 11.15am walkers from Painswick using the previously mentioned public footpath allowed a Cocker Spaniel dog to worry another bunch of 52 breeding ewes of mine leaving a young ewe collapsed on the ground in a distressed state and isolated from the other sheep that had fled to the far end of the field.

In both these cases of sheep worrying the dog owners concerned seemed to be blasé about what had happened, not realising that pregnant ewes can miscarry, in these circumstances, or deliver deformed lambs.

These matters are very worrying for the farmer and very time consuming.

They are avoidable if dog owners are responsible and keep dogs on leads.

It is now time for the law to be changed so that dogs are compelled to be on leads whilst on agricultural land.

Philip Berry

Painswick