WORRIED.

Thames Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 17924, 27 June 1930, Page 7

WORRIED.

v (pontributed)

.The farmer went down to bring up •-the cows for the evening milking, and •-while doiag so decided/to have'a good ; • /3ook at the 70 'odd/hoglgets that were V .-jrunning in ah:adjacent paddock. The '.' inspection was of a thoroughly satis- //. /patuxe, for the, farmer noted '■.viwdth a'-keen-expert eye' due to-his • Earlier .training; when sheep : • were ..•considered of impre r importance than -cows, 'that .the- whole of the sheep ;'. -were in good, health ; and doing well, ;v-as; could be/seen by their" keen* bright : wool, clear eyes and general air of , . . .',, >■ ■'. ;.";.' There had been quite.a lot of work ;'., !, bringing, the flock up to its present v ■thad first' arrived oh the farm from • /the Kinig.Obuntry;they were a. sorry ■• :■ hooking/ lot of lamlbs\ with their, dirty .-draggled fleeces and .dull'eyes/ some ' ..Showing a tinge of yellow, which .was . .rtheoutcpone of grazing on. ragwort. ;?There had also been rather.; a •high • of losses, the ragwort grazing having undermined the con.Tstitution and acted as a slow poison, \ Tbut for: the last;week or. ten .days.nb sheep had sickened; in fact the were in first class; condit- : , : aon to face the coming wjmter./ Hence • 'frifriend farmer felt satisfied with him,sejf, his sheep and the world in gen- : -eraii. That' the sheepVwere r ina simi•';3ar v fraim'e -•:of - mind could -be noticed ■/ ~by their^-indifference to the/&>g which /Hrotted :about /among 0 ;-them as /if; he ''■ .rwereUan.old trusted: friend;,: So : ;4heVfarmer' cbriected the cows and pro--ceeded with the/ evening; milking, - on what he would do with -the k profits fronr his '. speculation in •Isheep; /With reasonable luck, ! after the house with first class ■ the bai'ance • .'••of; /the flock ; • a figure that; would ,;zinean i iprofit of; about £l'.per head vtnext' Oliober or November. /, The next morning, first thing after .';!j/foreakifast, put; friend went to shut, the »cows in theirpad4ock and make sure -that they had; a good supply of water. ■./As. on '.,. the evening before;he .'had /to/ /pass the field where the sheep were ~ias he had.a glimpse of the sheep he ; I-knew,there vsras some trpuble, for in-

• ■ stead of between :60 and 70 grazing ; or sleeping in'/ the sun .',* -there, were some 20 lying on, the all kinds of unnatural atTtitudes,-, with about; the same number fuddled together ,in-a corner of the paddock. Well the ; owner.'knew where '/he would find the /*emairider-^in/ : a, ■" 'Jdeep; drain on the far ;side of .the \ pad-' • 'there' by .the dogs who ;/■ 2!had, done all the damage.; His worst ": 'dears were fullyv realised for 'there, piled one.on top of the other, were ' Hhe /remaih^^ on; the top were alive but well ' //tie knew, that many ;bf; those uhderj'lieath must 1 be. smothered., /Grabbing ;L the' first sheep; he pulled it], but and ./put', it on/its feet, ■ but so; dazed/ and '■ -terrified was • ttje 'poor brutez/that lit .promptly• jumped, back again/ so the rtnextVcbuple he had to take some dis^ -tahce out so that they could see some > • *of the; other sheep. By this 'time ':.& had opportunely arrived on ', -the' scene and together they w6rke£ regardless of the rblack/Iterries, that and ran -into their hands. At ; .■ Hast' aM r the live sheep; were lifted out iiid then in a niore leisurely manner dead one "were taken out. There .. -were no of/the dogs on any of smothered, . Next' they examin-;'-«ed: the/ less fortunate : sheep laying : the paddock/ JHere the; work of ;-the dogs was ,to be seen in; all its /Shbrror. There lay. one ; with its throat' :>; Horn ■: open, "while not far away was -another treated in the same way but "•'..: jstill alive, though; bieeding 'tp ; d ; eathr; ■Others ) bad their shoulders or hind,:.riiquarters torn and in some cases.bbtli lega and flanks had been mauled, -while all oyer the paddock were ; fctufts: of ;Iwooi. /, The 'riext business was to collect , .Tthesheep'that were able to Waik.a'nd :/putthem ; in a place where they could . '"o)e' Iboked; after./ A forlorn lbbking A few seemed to/have any serious harm but by far ',: .ihe greater nuiniber were limping and < • dragging an injured 1 leg, and all were ■'■■■.; in a,state of terror;/'As they crossed ;.' :: the field some of the fallen; sheep , • "would try to follow. Here one would .stagger a few yards and then fall ■ -down, while others would make a - slight attempt.but were too injured; -Ho dp more than lift their heads and •■-watch their more fortunate companions pass by. And this was the.flock V '"that .the evening before were a con-

■iented, bright-eyed, clean fleeced lot ■'■■: >of sheep^—-the woi*k of a couple of •<logs, for it-is seldom a single dog .; this 'amount of damage. 'After they sheep that . --were able ■ to; walk a. knife was necessary to ;mereif ully put. an end to "'.■■ "the.sufferings'.of the poor brutes that no chance of recovery, and. this : brought the total of-dead sheep up to . 17> but there is still.alot Of time and '.-►attention needed to bring the remainder b-ack to a satisfactory condition. -Oyer ;. JB4O worth of damage done ,be-; : -cause some neglect to chain up jtheif dogs. Sheep worrying generally :; Recursat' riighfcor in morn- ••.: dng so; it ( is.seldom the. sheep owner out wh6se:dbgs have, done ; the,

damage/though he may sometimes have his suspicions. i IMy advice to all people who own dpgs, whether they live in the town or country (many farmers are very lax in. the matter of chaining up their dogs at night) is to keep the dogs on the chain at-night. Any dog, may go in for sheep worrying, even a : steady going old cow dog, and trained sheep dogs have been known to take to it ■\yhen led away by some other dog. • I am sure if dog owners were to see the havoc that sheep worryurg dogs can do among a flock of sheep they : would keep their dogs chained up at

night, if only froni a humane, point of view. Then there is of course the financial aspect, for if the owner of the sheep is able,to find the Owner of the dog or dogs that did the damage the latter is liable for heavy damages for sheep killed and : general damages to the flock. . ,',■•..-. ; .''■'■"'