​Wicklow Sheep

The Wicklow Cheviot Sheep Owners Association has been striving for stricter dog control for the past number of years in the hope of reducing the number of attacks on sheep taking place.

 

Sheep and lambs are very vulnerable to dog activity and they will view even the friendliest pet dog as a predator and be very nervous of it. Being chased by a dog causes a very high level of stress among sheep and lambs and can easily result in their death.

 

Each week hundreds of ewes and lambs are killed all over Ireland by marauding dogs. Even those ewes that are not killed are hugely stressed and lose lambs if they are pregnant. Attacks on sheep are a massive loss to a farmer and can sometimes take years to recover from.