DOG walkers are being urged to keep their animals on leads when near livestock.

The plea has been issued by Bradford Council countryside officers after a series of attacks on sheep.

One farmer on the moors between Keighley and Ilkley has reported as many as eight incidents in the past few months alone.

And earlier this year Kelly Garratt and partner Harley Baxter, who had 11 pregnant sheep killed by two roaming Alsatians in Riddlesden, launched an online petition

It is demanding that all dogs should be kept on leads near livestock by law.

The petition, at petition.parliament.uk/petitions/126881, has so far attracted over 2,600 signatures.

Council countryside officer, Richard Perham, said: "It only takes a couple of seconds for a loose dog to set off chasing a sheep, which the owner may not have spotted.

"That's why we are asking for everyone to keep their dogs under close control at all times.

"It is an offence for owners to fail to prevent their dogs from chasing or attacking sheep.

"We want everyone – including their pets – to share in the amazing landscapes of the area, but are asking for everybody to behave responsibly.

"It is every dog's instinct to chase no matter what the breed, even if they are usually obedient and good with other animals."

He added that even if the sheep were not actually physically harmed, the stress induced by the chase could lead to serious health problems and cause pregnant ewes to miscarry.

And he said farmers and landowners were at liberty to shoot loose dogs among their livestock.

"Sheep are valuable assets to farmers and any harm to them results in harm to their livelihoods," he said.

"Sheep fleeing from dogs are often killed or seriously injured by their panicked attempts to escape, causing untold damage to fences and field boundaries in the process."

At the time of the Riddlesden attack last year, Mr Baxter – from East Morton – lined up the corpses close to Bradford Road with a large signboard saying "This is why dogs should be kept on leads".

Miss Garratt said: "Things really need to change. This is a national problem, there are just too many attacks on livestock taking place.

"I love dogs and they've always been my life and it's not their fault – it's the owners."

Police echoed the plea for people to keep their dogs on leads when walking through farmers' fields where livestock is present.

And they stressed that under the Animals Act, landowners or anyone acting on their behalf were entitled to shoot any dog on their land if they believed it was the only reasonable way of stopping it worrying livestock.