Partnership launched to protect livestock from dog attacks
Date of alert:
Friday, 15 April 2022
Crime Ref:
Force:
Police Scotland
Ayrshire rural organisations and Police Scotland have combined forces to highlight new legislation to protect livestock from dog attacks.
The Ayrshire Partnership Against Rural Crime and its partners were at Dumfries House on Sunday, April 10 to promote the new legislation which protects animals from dog attacks through a range of measures.
These include updating the livestock definition to include all other farmed animals alongside cattle and sheep; fines up to £40,000 and prison sentences for owners who let their pets worry, kill or injure farmed animals.
East Ayrshire region is very popular for dog walking and there has been an increasing numbers of farm animal attacks in the area.
The campaign will run through the lambing season, when sheep and lambs are most vulnerable to attacks and will be then run again in the autumn.
Speaking at the event, NFU Scotland Ayrshire regional manager Christine Cuthbertson said:
“We are lucky to have beautiful countryside in Ayrshire which includes the stunning Dumfries House Estate, but it is very much a working landscape.
