A FARMER has warned he will shoot dangerous dogs on sight after one of his sheep was killed and another two badly mauled during a savage attack.

The ewe lamb was found dead and partially eaten following the mauling in a paddock in Ladywood, near Martin Hussingtree, north of Worcester.

The sheep, a Texel, was so badly savaged the photograph of her horrific injuries was considered too distressing to print in the newspaper or on the Worcester News website.

Two other ewes, one the beloved tame pet of a 10-year-old girl, are lucky to be alive after being bitten and scratched during the bloody attack between noon on Tuesday (December 30) and 9am on Wednesday (December 31).

The attack was so ferocious it left fleece strewn around the field while the vet who treated the two surviving ewes was at Knoll Farm, Martin Hussingtree, for four-and-a-half hours where she had to administer a local anaesthetic before stitching and disinfecting their extensive wounds and giving the animals antibiotics.

Anthony Thomas, a farmer for 67 years, said: “They were out to kill. They had tasted blood before. She (the dead ewe) has been eaten alive, torn to shreds.

“The shock would have killed her but how long did it take her to die like that? It always happens in the same paddock which makes me think it’s the same dogs. If dogs are seen worrying the sheep they will be shot which we’re legally entitled to do.”

The vet told Mr Thomas and his wife Jane, who owns the sheep, that the the scratch marks suggested two dogs, one large and one small. The attack left extensive bruising and bite and claw marks to the surviving ewes, one of whom was a Texel show ewe lamb worth £400, who will now be unlikely to ever feature in agricultural shows again.

The second ewe, also a Texel, was called Luna Lilly and belongs to the granddaughter of a family friend who had yet to be told of the attack. She would tend her every day during holidays.

The flock of 15 sheep is owned by Jane Thomas who said: “The owners of dogs should control them. What she (the dead ewe) must have suffered breaks by heart. I feel very angry but also very sad. What they had suffered when they were attacked is beyond what I can imagine.”

Their sheep including a pregnant ewe were also attacked in the same paddock in February or March last year and during an incident before this a ewe had to be rescued from a canal by the paddock by a crew from the fire service who have been highly praised by the couple.

After this most recent attack some of the sheep were standing in canal water and Mrs Thomas fears they could easily have drowned, weighed down by their soaking wet fleece.

If the two injured ewes had been left they would have died, the vet told them. They had to be stitched up and given antibiotics to prevent them drying of infection.

The attack has been reported to police and an officer visited the farm on New Year’s Day to speak to the couple. Those with information can call West Mercia Police on their non-emergency number 101, quoting incident reference 0373-S-311214.