Survey Results

National Sheep Association has collected the experiences of of police forces affected by sheep worrying through its annual survey. A copy of the full results from the survey can be downloaded below.

The majority of forces who took part said sheep attacks were the most common rural cirme.
76% of forces who took part reported at least monthly sheep worrying incidents.
No force reported never having a sheep worrying by dog incident.
78% of forces who took part reported an increase in sheep worrying by dog incidents.
Rural crime teams are equally frustrated by attacks.
Dogs off lead and not under control was the main cause of attacks, followed by lack of responsibility, education and disrespect for livestock/farming.
Rural crime teams are actively raising awareness of sheep worrying by dogs.
Proactive use of signage is considered the most successful tool to help prevent sheep worrying by dogs.

In line with previous survey results, 70% of respondents had at least one sheep worrying incident in the last 12 months.
Of these, 95% of them had between 1-10 occurrence in the year.
In almost 70% of cases it's a single dog injuring or killing multiple sheep.
Despite farmers making steps to prevent sheep worrying, through signs, moving sheep and use of social media, it’s not having an impact.
On average incidence and severity hasn’t changed much since last year but still does not take into account production losses in sheep, including miscarriage, that were reported by almost 70% of respondents.
Only 14% of respondents were alerted by the offending dog owner, with the majority left to discover the evidence or alerted by someone else.
The majority of cases occur on private land, irrespective of whether there is a public right of way.
70% of respondents reported either verbal abuse, intimidation, being ignored or negative attitude from a dog owner when approached and asked to put their dog on a lead.
82% of survey respondents strongly agreed additional powers are necessary to act as a deterrent to irresponsible dog ownership.
Farmers reported feelings of anger, frustration and upset. This year there were additional comments like 'becoming the norm' and 'expected', demonstrating the insidious frequency of sheep worrying by dogs.