A DARTMOOR farmer who has been a victim of sheep worrying says he supports the proposed new byelaw to keep dogs on a lead on the open moor between March and July.

Phil Heard, who runs a flock of 350 sheep on north Dartmoor above Meldon, said one of his sheep had been attacked and injured only last week near Meldon Reservoir.

’I think it is a good idea,’ he said. ’We have suffered quite a bit from sheep worrying. The ewes are heavily in lamb at that time of year and when they go out they have got young lambs, so I think it is a good idea for dogs to be on leads. It doesn’t need to be a short lead, but they should be on a lead.

He added: ’Most years up around Meldon Reservoir we do get livestock worrying. It is very rare that you see who does it. Sheep come in with tears around their need of you find dead sheep with tears on their neck.

’It has been going on for years and we can’t carry on the way things are. Most farmers feel this way. The vast majority of dog owners are very responsible and have their dogs under control but it isn’t them that this is aimed at. It is aimed at the more irresponsible ones. I have seen people walking along and their dog is miles away, they don’t even know where their dog is, they are chatting away to someone.

’It is not generally local people, to be fair. It is obviously worse in the summer months but that doesn’t mean we don’t get problems earlier on.’

’Last week we had a call from the livestock protection officer to say that a sheep had been savaged up at Meldon Reservoir by an Alsatian dog and by the time we had got up there, everyone had gone. The sheep is still alive but she had been torn around the neck.’ He said leads are necessary because dogs instinctively chase sheep, and pregnant sheep could miscarry even if the dog only chased them. ’If a sheep is heavily in lamb the sheep can lose its lamb.

’It is a problem and the farmers have put forward this solution. They are glad to see the Dartmoor National Park Authority taking it seriously.’