A TV star dog tamer known as ‘The Dog Father’ has joined forces with police to combat attacks on sheep.

Graeme Hall, star of Channel 5’s series Dogs Behaving Badly, urged dog owners to keep their pets on leads near livestock after some distressing fatal attacks in West Devon including a 45-animal slaughter by a lone dog.

Graeme is helping police get the message over to dog owners with a series of videos as rural crime officers hope his fame will help reduce injuries and deaths from either chasing or attacking dogs.

They filmed at Langford Farm, near Tavistock, amid grazing cattle and sheep. However, the pastoral scene was transformed into a bloodbath in 2024 when a loose dog savaged and killed a herd of ewes and lambs. Many weakened sheep died later from infections, injuries and trauma.

Graeme said: “There’s a big problem of dog attacks on livestock in the South West with sheep dying or badly injured. This is commonly known as sheep worrying, but is more serious than the term suggests.

“Even if dogs do ‘worry’ and chase or bark at sheep, they can cause them to abort and injure themselves when panicking and running away.

“On this farm there was a mass killing and in that case it was a dog off its lead which ran wild using its prey instinct.

“So, the simple message is that even if someone thinks their dear ‘fluffy’ is harmless and would never in a million years attack a sheep, it can’t be trusted to keep its instincts under control. Even police dogs, which are the best trained, are kept on leads and away from livestock.

“So, please keep your beloved dog on a lead in the countryside.”

Ali Dawe, who runs Langford Farm with his father Will and brother Chris, still gets upset remembering the mass attack on his land: “Even though it was two years ago, it’s horrible to talk about it.

“We were checking the new lambs in our fields and gradually came across one body after another. Just when we thought it was the end of the dead, we kept coming across more. It was shocking. As farmers, we’re used to death among animals, but to see the suffering of the badly injured sheep and lambs was just traumatic.

“The sheep are more than our livelihood to us, we have invested a lot of work in creating a quality flock over the years. But to the dog it’s just sport and the owner it was plain neglect and irresponsible.”

Sgt Julian Fry, from Devon & Cornwall Police rural crime unit, has personal experience of dog attacks on livestock: “I am involved in keeping livestock and have witnessed attacks first-hand. It’s very emotional and the ongoing impact to farmers and the animals is huge financially, emotionally and with later consequential losses due to infections and injuries.

“It is only a minority of dog owners who are irresponsibly allowing their dogs off the lead near livestock. Any dog is capable of attacking or chasing sheep and cattle and causing death or injury and trauma.”