Farmer left ‘sickened’ after loose dogs savage 18 calves

Warning: graphic images below

A Cheshire dairy farmer says he has been left “sickened” after loose dogs savaged 18 calves in their pen.

Phil Latham said a staff member who was carrying out routine checks on his farm near Nantwich alerted him to “another dog attack” on Friday evening (9 August).

Mr Latham said the worker told him that two loose dogs – believed to be a rottweiler and a Rhodesian Ridgeback – had been seen on the farm.

One of the dogs, the ridgeback, was spotted in the pen with blood on its face.

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Four police officers, two vets and three farm staff members spent three-and-a-half hours treating the Brown Swiss cross Holstein-Friesian calves for puncture wounds and tears, which Mr Latham described as “horrific”.

© Phil Latham

© Phil Latham

“Some of the wounds, you can get your second knuckle of your finger into them. There are chunks bitten out of these animals,” he said.

“Even the vet was shaken up. She’d never seen anything like it.”

DNA testing

Vets took swabs from three of the injured calves at the scene of the attack, which will be tested for canine DNA. The results are unknown.

Mr Latham took videos of the two loose dogs suspected of carrying out the attacks roaming around his farmyard in the aftermath of the incident.

However, he said the owner is not accepting responsibility and has blamed other unknown loose dogs.

Mr Latham’s local rural crime officer has also told him the owner of the two dogs is not required by law to have them tested for their DNA to determine if they are linked to the attack.

“I feel desperately frustrated. This is the second time in two years this has happened,” Mr Latham told Farmers Weekly.

“I have got the video of the dogs walking around the yard unrestrained and I am meeting the police to hand the evidence to them.

“The mum came back and said, ‘My dogs wouldn’t do that. They are lovely and soft.’ But I don’t think there is any mystery to all this at all, apart from in the dog owner’s eyes.”  

Hefty vet bill

If the DNA testing proves the suspected dogs were responsible, Mr Latham believes they should be put down to prevent further attacks on livestock.

The farmer is now left to deal with potential financial losses, including a hefty vet bill, while also trying to prevent future incidents.

Mr Latham has reported the incident to police and is exploring his legal options. Cheshire Police has launched an investigation.