ANXIOUS Staffin crofters have urged dog walkers to take the lead and pay heed to their surroundings, as they report an increase in sheep worrying incidents.
Several local crofters have witnessed mounting problems with regards to dogs not being under control around livestock.
This is a critical time of year in the crofting calendar and any loss of valuable stock and lambs is not only an animal welfare issue but has a devastating financial impact on livelihoods.
David MacDonald, Culnacnoc, and John Gillies in Sartle want to see owners act more responsibly.
David said: "We've had dogs off leads and attacking the sheep. We had a couple down recently with three dogs and not one of them was on a lead, with our ewes heavily in lamb, and the dogs going everywhere. The dog situation is out of hand now and becoming intolerable."
John said sheep were badly injured in Brogaig recently and is worried there my be further incidents during lambing.
The majority of dog owners are responsible when walking their animals in Staffin, which has very little public land. The district is still an active crofting community and livestock are close by in most areas, including common grazings.
A misconception among some pet owners is that dogs who do not bite livestock or try to attack them are harmless. However, sheep are currently very heavy as they are ‘in lamb’ i.e, pregnant. If they are chased or alarmed by roaming dogs then it can affect their unborn lamb(s) and, in the worst cases, the stress can cause them to abort. The same issues applies to cattle.
Donna Smith, the Scottish Crofting Federation chief executive, said there were growing concerns about dogs worrying livestock in crofting communities across the Highlands.
"Some of this appears to be attributed to higher numbers of visitors who perhaps do not understand the landscape they are walking in, but we have also heard reports of issues being caused by people who live in the area," she said. "We would encourage all dog owners, whether living in an area or visiting, to be very mindful that there could be livestock in many areas of the Highlands and Islands, sometimes it is not immediately obvious because of the landscape and therefore dogs should be kept under complete control at all times."
Crofters can legally shoot dogs which are attacking their livestock and there are now stiffer penalties for convicted pet owners who can face fines of up to £40,000 and a prison sentence of up to a 12 months.
Edinbane crofter Jake Sayles, who is the group secretary for the National Farming Union's Skye, Loch Duich and Western Isles Committee, said every attack should be reported to the police.
"NFU Scotland has campaigned on dog worrying endlessly and have succeeded in continually tightening the rules and penalties through their work, but still most dog attacks aren’t reported to the police," he said. "Without this it undermines all the work ongoing. To be clear reporting to the police is not about whether they do anything about the attack – that’s a separate issue – its about creating statistics.
"I think Skye wise it depends where the flavour of the month is for the picture and Instagram brigade, it's quite clear it is Staffin currently – but certainly last summer Glenbrittle also had an awful time."
Staffin Community has worked to educate visitors through signage and providing information to walkers that they are in an active crofting landscape via its ecomuseum project Druim nan Linntean.
