'People are shocked when their dogs attack my sheep'

"The owner and the dog had disappeared by the time we got there – there was nothing we could do."

Farmer Isobel Connell recently lost eight lambs after a dog chased and attacked them while its owner looked on.

Her farm in the Chiltern Hills near Henley-on-Thames has been subjected to even worse attacks - 10 years ago 68 lambs and 19 ewes were killed by two loose Labradors.

NFU Mutual has released figures estimating that farm animals worth £330,000 in the south east were severely injured or killed in dog attacks in 2025, a 137% rise on the previous year.

Isobel is a fifth generation farmer and along with her family grazes up to 2,500 sheep.

The latest attack took place in November when an Alsatian-type dog dashed through a gate into a field crossed by two public footpaths, and set on 16 lambs.

"We have our phone number on all the gates and somebody rang to tell us what had happened," Isobel says.

She was told there were a "lot of lambs dotted around covered in blood with a lot of wool loose".

She rushed to the scene, but by then it was too late, with the lambs left either dead, dying, or heavily injured.

"The dog owner was nowhere to be seen, they'd scarpered," she says.

"It's harrowing, and it gets you really, really down."

Isobel worries that dog owners do not realise what their pets are capable of.

"Dogs are animals and have a natural instinct to chase – no matter what training you have given them or how good their recall," she says.

"People think their dogs are domesticated and all that natural tendency to chase has been bred out of them - but it hasn't."

She adds: "It's amazing how shocked owners are when their dog does attack.

"Countless times dog owners have previously admitted to it and told us they couldn't believe their dog would behave like that."

Rural insurance company NFU Mutual successfully campaigned for an amendment in government legislation to give police more enforcement powers when it comes to dog attacks on livestock.

Rural affairs specialist Hannah Binns said: "For farmers and their families, witnessing these horrific incidents or finding injured or dead livestock after an attack can be utterly heartbreaking.

"Farmers across the UK are living with the constant fear of repeat incidents, which cause immense suffering to livestock and can traumatise all involved in dealing with the aftermath."

She warned that "regardless of breed, size, or temperament, all dogs can chase, injure or kill livestock".

In the meantime Isobel's family have given up the rental of fields in some areas due to the chance of future attacks.

"It just wasn't worth carrying on because of the losses and the huge stress it causes," she says.

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