'STOP the unnecessary suffering of livestock and keep your dogs on leads'  — that's the latest warning from the Dartmoor Livestock Protection Society after 14 sheep and lambs have been attacked and mauled within the last month.

Livestock protection officer for the DLPS Karla McKechnie said that the defenceless animals had been attacked in the areas of Gem Bridge and Magpie Bridge at Grenofen, Long Ash and Drake's Trail, with three young lambs being killed within one week.

Karla warned that dog owners needed to keep their animals on leads around livestock especially during lambing season, or the minority of irresponsible owners will force tougher laws to be put in place excluding dogs from certain areas, spoiling the walks for the majority of sensible owners.

'The call is simple, stop the unnecessary suffering of livestock and put your dogs on lead around livestock,' said Karla.

One of the many sheep attacks Karla has attended was on March 26, where a sheep was found lying on its side and had been mauled around its neck, with its young lamb looking on.

Karla said: 'That sheep died that night and people need to realise that incidents like this have a massive knock-on effect. 

'The repercussion of this incident and incidents like this is that not only is that lamb now left without its mother but if that lamb was killed and its mother lived the ewe would have been susceptible to mastitis, infections and stress.

'I cannot stress enough that dogs should be on leads around livestock at all times, especially from March 1 to July 31 during lambing and bird nesting season.'

Tavistock sergeant Dave Anning said: 'We will do what we can to assist Karla and we encourage people to talk to us if they can't talk to Karla.

'It's entirely possible that the dog owners don't know what their dog is doing but at the end of the day our aim is to stop sheep being killed.'

One case reported to Karla was of a black and grey spaniel, wearing a light blue collar, seen on Saturday (March 28) at 1.30pm carrying a lamb in its mouth.

'The lamb was rescued but had a puncture wound from the dog,' she said. 'Anyone with information on this incident should contact me direct.'

To report incidents contact Karla on 07873 587561.

l The 'Catch the Canine Culprit' campaign for DNA samples to be taken from dogs is hoped, by the DLPS, farmers and interested organisations, to make it easier to identify the owner and dog involved in an attack.

The DLPS is calling for dog's DNA to be taken and recorded on a register at the same time as when the animal is microchipped.

The society is pleased to announce that it has gained a lot of support from authoritative bodies on this campaign.