A YOUNG farmer has revealed the horrific damage caused by dogs who are allowed to run free on farm land.

Dave Roberts, 22, has lost eight sheep to the dogs.

And in the latest horrific incident, a pregnant ewe had its unborn lambs torn from its body.

Livestock at Rosewood Croft Farm, near Meltham, have suffered not just violent maulings but also miscarriages and heart attacks caused by owners who fail to control their dogs around livestock.

Mr Roberts said: “I lost five in the bad weather as the dogs were running them and they panicked and died.

“More recently it’s been worse near Meltham golf course, the dogs are ripping them to shreds.

“On Sunday it happened again. At 10am they were fine and when I went down at 3pm you could tell they’d been chased.

“Some had gone through fences and they’d been trying to get away.

“One had its skin torn open and it’s entrails and the lambs it was carrying were out.

“They are just five weeks off lambing.”

Aside from the distressing nature of the animals’ deaths, there is also a financial price to be paid at a difficult time for farming.

Mr Roberts added: “To replace a sheep you are talking about £200. But in five weeks’ time after it has lambed, that could be £300.

“I’ve been nursing some of them back to health but whether it’s carrying lambs still or not I don’t know.

“The total I’ve lost now is eight.

“We have seen a dog run off in the direction of the golf club and it has to be a connection, but it’s more than just one owner.

“I’ve spoken to walkers but obviously it’s hard to find an attack in the process of happening.”

Mr Roberts has around 190 sheep and some beef cattle, and is urging dog owners to show more caution.

He said: “They should not be off their leads anywhere near a sheep.

“I have a sheepdog but I don’t use it at this time of year for this exact reason.

“They must realise because whoever owns the dog that has attacked the sheep on Saturday must have seen that animal come back to them absolutely covered in blood.

“The sheep had been torn to bits.”

Robert Nobles of the local branch of the National Farmers’ Union, said there had been other incidents in the Holmfirth area.

He said the worst case saw 26 sheep killed or worried by marauding dogs.

Mr Nobles said: “I don’t blame the dogs: I blame the owners.

“A dog’s natural instinct is to chase a sheep but that can cause serious stress if not serious injury or an horrific death.

“People must keep their dogs on a lead when crossing farmland. No-one knows what there will be through the next gateway.”