Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions there have been of dog owners for sheep worrying in each of the last five years.

My Department takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising both the distress this can cause farmers and animals, as well as the financial implications.

According to the National Sheep Association’s annual survey 94.85% of respondents had experienced sheep worrying by dogs on their farm, and SheepWatch UK estimate that 15,000 sheep are killed each year in dog worrying incidents.

Data on prosecutions relating to the offence of livestock worrying (which includes sheep worrying) are consolidated in the Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly (England and Wales) under the broader category ‘other offences related to dogs’. We do not hold separate data on this.