Vicious attack decimates flock

KIHIKIHI Road farmer Pierre Fladgate with three of the sheep attacked by dogs on Thursday. They did not survive. 269061AD

By Cathy Asplin

In his 50 years farming Pierre Fladgate has never seen anything as vicious as the dog attack on his sheep last week.

“The ones that were killed had their backs ripped off, eyes pulled out and faces mauled - others had lumps of wool and skin pulled off, with deep teeth marks and wounds all over their bodies. Those that survived were so badly stressed that they will probably die or abort their lambs.”

Mr Fladgate had been away from his Kihikihi Road farm on Thursday afternoon from about 2pm. When he arrived home around 5pm he realised something was drastically wrong.

“I decided to head out to see if any more sheep had lambed while I was away. I could see several of them huddled together, which was the first warning sign. As I got closer I could see they had wool and skin hanging off and they were covered in dirt and blood. I looked down the hill and there were several more dead in the drain. When I got there it was obvious they had been chased into the drain, then the dogs had jumped on top of them to attack. Most of the sheep had probably drowned.”

Of the 30 in the mob of Dorper sheep imported from Australia, eight were killed initially, three more died later and a further three needed to be put down as their wounds were so deep. Many could not stand up and others were likely to succumb to blood poisoning as a result of their wounds.

Two of the sheep killed had actually been sold for $500 each, so as well as being a distressing incident, the dogs wiped out at least $7000 worth of stock.

REPEAT OFFENDERS

Not content with that, however, the dogs returned early on Saturday morning. This time they also began attacking some rams that were being prepared for sale. Fortunately Mr Fladgate was able to get a clear view of the dogs, although he was unable to stop their initial attack.

“They had started taking chunks out of one of the rams and they ran a second one into the fence line. They showed how vicious they are, with the larger dark mastiff type dog trying to attack their throats and the smaller, lighter coloured dog attacking their hamstrings. When I went out onto the farm they ran off over the hill back towards the Intermediate School. Hopefully someone will have seen these dogs or will know where they come from.”

Mr Fladgate says he has never had problems with dogs before, despite living so close to town.

“We have the occasional dog scavenging on the property, but it hasn’t really been an issue before. We really need to stop these dogs, before they attack again.”

Anyone able to provide any information about possible sightings or if they may know where the dogs come from should contact Animal Control Officer David Lee (via Waipa District Council, ph 872 0030) or call Te Awamutu Police (ph 872 0100).