Rural Crime News

The NFU is working to tackle sheep worrying and rural crime. Sheep farmer and NFU member Emily Gascoigne shares her personal experiences and her support of DNA testing and increasing legal protections.

A savage attack on a pedigree ewe worth £3,000 is the latest of a series of dog attacks on a Derbyshire couple’s farm in one of the Peak District’s most popular tourist spots. 

NFU Mutual has warned farmers that lambs are at high risk of dog attacks as Easter falls late this year. 

“They knew what they were doing. They went in, smashed the window and got what they wanted,” said Will Lacey, whose farm shop was targeted by thieves. 

The National Sheep Association (NSA) has launched the livestock worrying awareness week to highlight the ongoing failure of UK dog owners to recognise the threat their pet animals pose to farm livestock, especially sheep. 

Farmers have been advised to be alert and report any suspicious activity following incidents of attempted livestock theft in Scotland.

West Mercia Police are appealing for witnesses after 19 sheep were stolen from a farm in north Worcestershire.

North Wales Police Rural Crime Team has issued a plea asking the public to help find a dog owner following an incident that saw a lamb being attacked by an off-lead dog. 

A man from Cornwall has been banned from keeping dogs for 10 years after his pets killed 22 sheep and caused near-misses on the roads while roaming free. It is also claimed that the dogs killed cats and pet rabbits. 

An Essex-based chemical manufacturing company has been fined £2.5 million following two incidents of uncontrolled releases of highly corrosive acids at its site in West Thurrock. 

A vegan activist, Louise Murguia, has been found guilty of animal cruelty after she stole a lamb from a field in Dorset.

Nearly one in five people surveyed by the Countryside Alliance say they have considered leaving the area where they live due to the increase in rural crime.