AN AGRICULTURAL expert is warning Welsh dog owners to be vigilant when walking their pets in the countryside, as “frustrated” rural police forces call for new powers to crack down on sheep attacks.

Rob Matthews, of farm insurance broker specialist Lycetts, fears owners are not fully aware of the risk their pet poses to livestock, with farmers forced out of the industry every year due to the trauma and crippling cost of attacks.

An All Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare found that an estimated 15,000 sheep were killed by dogs in just one year, putting the cost to the farming sector at around £1.3m.

A multi-force police working group – which includes North Wales Police – has now called for changes in the law, including making dog attacks a recordable crime.

This gives police the power to seize dogs and will see the creation of a DNA database for offending dogs, as well as harsher sentences for their owners.

This is after it was revealed that hundreds of attacks have taken place on farms in North Wales in recent years.

Rob, who advises farmers in Wales, said: “Unfortunately, even the most docile of dogs can get caught up in an attack on sheep because many of them think it is a game.

“What many dog owners don’t realise is that their dog does not have to physically attack a sheep to cause harm.

“Even if a dog does not make contact with the livestock, the stress from worrying by dogs can cause sheep to die – often by the dozen – and expectant ewes to abort.

“As we are in lambing season, the flock is at its most vulnerable now, and we urge dog owners to take heed and stick to the lead.”

Over the past year, five police forces – North Yorkshire, Devon and Cornwall, Sussex, North Wales and Hertfordshire – took part in an initiative by The National Police Chiefs Council (NSPCC), which sought to identify the true extent of livestock worrying in the countryside.

The Wildlife and Rural Crime Working Group was formed after rural police forces expressed frustration with not only irresponsible dog ownership, but the limited powers available to them to respond to dog attacks.

As attacks are not currently treated as a recordable crime, there is little reliable police data on the scale of the problem faced by farmers.

However, North Wales Police recorded 449 cases of livestock worrying from September 2013 to August 2018.

In that period, 648 livestock were killed and 376 were injured.