A farmer has admitted killing two dogs by shooting them in the head with a bolt gun.

Simon Tidswell said the dogs were responsible for killing a number of his sheep, and any farmer would do the same.

As reported in yesterday’s Telegraph & Argus, Zoe Kerr, 36, lost her two dogs – a German Shepherd cross and a Husky cross – on the Moors near Oxenhope on Sunday.

Their bodies were found on nearby Sandbeds Farm in Trough Lane and Mr Tidswell was arrested and bailed on suspicion of criminal damage on Monday.

Yesterday Mr Tidswell told the Telegraph & Argus he shot the dogs in anger after finding three dead lambs, and said it was his right as a farmer to do so.

Mr Tidswell said that on Sunday evening he came across a dog walker who had found the two dogs and placed them on leads. They took them to a barn on his farm while he tried to call the dog warden, but received no answer.

He chained them in the barn and went to check on the flock, when he found three dead lambs. He said: “There were three lambs killed outright. I saw red. They had attacked the sheep, and once a dog has done something like that you won’t stop them doing it again. I shot them.

“In a fit of rage I shot them after seeing the suffering they had caused my defenceless sheep. I did it humanely with a captive bolt gun, the type that are used in slaughter houses.

“When the police came I admitted I’d shot them and told them they were in another building.”

He said he was a trained slaughterman, and had the gun legally. He also believes a number of the pregnant ewes prematurely aborted. He added: “People are always sympathetic to dogs, but not to sheep and the suffering they go through.

“I’m having a lot of nasty stuff said about me on Facebook, but any sheep farmer would have done the same.”

He believes the dogs could have cost him up to £2,000 in livestock. He added: “My partner has been absolutely distraught over this. She feeds the lambs by bottle.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “A man has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. He has been released on bail.

“The bodies of the dogs have been seized by the RSPCA pending further investigation.”

Miss Kerr said yesterday: “The dogs were running loose and that was my fault, and I have to live with myself they got out.

“I could understand if they were shot while they were attacking an animal, but this was done after the event.”

e-mail: chris.young@telegraphandargus.co.uk

 

What the law says:

Farmers are legally allowed to shoot dogs on their land if they have a “lawful excuse”.
This requires the farmer to show that he acted in the belief that his property/livestock was in immediate need of protection from the animal.
Anything other than a single, clean shot and immediate despatch can result in prosecution.
There is a requirement to call the police within 48 hours of shooting a dog. Offences are punishable by imprisonment of up to six months and/
or fines of up to £20,000.
Owners of animals that worry livestock can be fined up to £1,000.