A YELVERTON farmer is calling for a change in the law, following an incident in which his livestock was horribly injured in an attack on Dartmoor. Neil Cole said the pregnant ewe had to be put down following the attack last weekend, which he believed involved a dog. Mr Cole said: ?The sheep had the side of her face ripped off, her cheek ripped off and at the back end her tail was ripped off ? she was still alive when we found her, the vet said it could have been done anything from a day to two days ago.? Mr Cole said it was the tenth time he had lost a sheep this year and there had been between 50 and 100 incidents of sheep worrying on Roborough Down in the last 12 months. He blamed dogs running loose on the commons for the attacks. ?We think all dogs should be micro-chipped and licensed. We think there should be a £1,000 fine if dogs get caught chasing sheep, plus compensation to the farmers,? said Mr Cole. ?If a cow had trampled on someone?s dog on the moor, because cows are tagged, the farmer could be prosecuted for having a dangerous animal. ?We have no way of tracing the owners of stray dogs. People want the CROW Act (Countryside Right of Way) but the National Park Authority, the Government and Defra have no rules in place to police it.? Mr Cole said that in addition to incidents of sheep worrying, nesting birds were also at risk from dogs running free on the moor, particularly at this time of the year. Ian Johnson, spokesman for the National Farmers? Union, said the NFU would back the micro-chipping of all dogs ? but he doubted it would solve the problem of sheep worrying. He said: ?Unfortunately, a microchip will not prevent such events. ?The answer is for people to be in full control of their dogs and as a secondary measure, it?s a very good idea to have dogs micro-chipped. ?I would suggest that anyone who is responsible enough to have their dog chipped would be responsible about controlling their dog. ?If you are talking about latch-key dogs, those owners wouldn?t be responsible enough to have their dogs chipped anyway.? Sgt Richard Nettleship, of Tavistock Police, warned dog owners that it was an offence to allow dogs to worry sheep and said farmers were perfectly within their rights to shoot dogs on sight if they saw them attacking livestock. Officers would like to speak to anyone who might have witnessed a sheep being attacked in the Chub Tor area, or anyone who has information about an incident of sheep worrying. Anyone who can help is asked to contact PC Graham Callender at Tavistock Police Station, quoting log number 346 of March 13.