A FARMER has spoken of his horror at watching a dog ‘rip apart’ ten young lambs.

The dog was being walked by its owner over the moors above Crown Point towards Deerplay when it set upon the two-week-old sheep, tearing at their heads and torsos.

Land owners, farmers and police are now urging people to keep their dogs on a lead while in rural areas to prevent any more attacks.

Champion sheep dog trainer Jim Cropper, 72, of Irwell House Farm, Bacup, was tending to his own flock when his neighbour, David Little, shouted to him for help, signalling him to head over to his field.

Mr Cropper said: “When I got there, the hound was snarling and growling.

“It was savage. It was carnage up there.

“There were dead sheep everywhere, some with their heads bitten clean off, others with their throats and bellies torn out.

“Some lay with their legs still twitching on the ground, but there was no hope for them.

“We called to it and tried to get it under control, but it showed no sign of stopping, it was killing for killing’s sake.

“I started picking the lambs up and loading them in the back of my motor to take away and David went to get his gun.

“I didn’t see it, but I heard one shot fired and knew the dog was dead.

“It’s not something I’d want to see. Nobody loves dogs more than I do.

“But these domestic dogs aren’t trained like working dogs and their owners lose control of them.

“Recently, there’ve been more and more people walking them without a lead on and the way they respond when I ask them to put it on a lead makes me think I’m the one that’s in the wrong.”

The National Farmers Union has reported a rise in the number of similar incidents across Lancashire over the last three years.

A spokesman said: “There are a lot of sheep being butchered in the field at the moment and our members are losing animals and money through something that’s completely avoidable.

“People need to realise that if you let your dog off the lead in rural areas then you’re putting sheep at risk, your dog, and yourself at risk from being trampled if there are cows with calves around.”