It was Friday, 6:30pm on August 9, and it had been a busy week. Work had finished for the day and it was time to wind down with a drink with my wife. I had one sip when my father called to say there had been another dog attack on the calves.
The vet was on her way, so I grabbed my stuff, called the police and set off on the 14-mile journey to the youngstock unit, just a mile from our dairy unit.
Both the dairy and the youngstock unit are rented from Lord Cholmondeley - the youngstock unit used to be rented by my uncle, but when his family left the house was let separately from the buildings.
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On my way, I called to ask what the injuries were, and if there were eyewitnesses. There were a number of bitten calves and the Ridgeback and Rottweiler, which belong to the tenants in the house [next to the unit], had been seen leaving the calf pens. The calves were four weeks old, our first batch of replacements for the dairy herd from this Autumn's block calving group.
When I arrived the vet and a colleague were standing in the yard. The dogs were loose and roaming around, and the vet felt unable to start her assessment until someone was there to keep an eye on them. I grabbed an electric fence stake; it was the only thing I could find and stood outside the calf shed. I dare not approach the dogs or the house to see if the owners were there.
The vet started work and it soon became apparent there were multiple injuries - legs were bitten, chunks of flesh were missing, there were tears and multiple puncture wounds from multiple bites on some calves.
The dogs' owner arrived - the dogs had been out all day. Like all owners of pets their first reaction was: Our dogs would not do that.
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I pointed out that this was the second dog attack. Two years ago, we had eight calves bitten but the owner took no responsibility, and the police said there was no evidence to follow up on. The dogs were put in the house.
The police arrived shortly after, made their assessment, spoke to the dog owners and came to see the vets. After the previous incident I criticised our vets for not helping identify the culprits, but this time they were prepared. As the police came into the pen the vet was swabbing the wounds with a DNA testing kit, with the hope that we could identify canine DNA from the saliva from the bites.
Three calves' wounds were swabbed and sealed bags of evidence presented to the officer. The police left after taking statements.
Due to the number of wounded calves, we called for an extra vet and the assistance of another colleague. After three and a half hours working by torch light and car headlight, we finished the work of patching up 18 calves out a pen of 20. All wounded calves had antibiotics; the worst ones had pain killers too.
The injuries were horrific on some. I think all of us were enraged, frustrated and shocked by the utterly unnecessary suffering of the calves.
The calves were all returned to the main dairy unit the next day for close observation. Repeat vet visits followed and a week later, 11 of the calves have returned to the unit. One calf has been put down because her wound was rotting, tendons were visible, and it simply was not fair to carry on with treatment. Six calves remain at the dairy unit.
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The police have taken statements. They have photos and videos of the loose dogs, the wounds, the assessments and DNA samples, but I am frustrated the DNA samples have been treated as experimental. They are, apparently, not evidence that could be submitted in court as Cheshire police are running a trial using this technology at the moment.
The dog owners do not have to provide a hair sample for identification of their pets' DNA. I find this incredible. DNA sampling is not new.
I believe owners of dogs suspected of worrying livestock should be mandated to provide samples for analysis and if not already the case, there should be an amendment to the Kept Animals bill to address this.
Since the attack neighbours have called trying to ensure I push for action as the dogs are know to roam. I warned the police two years ago that we would be back here and here we are, a pen full of injuries, totally avoidable and costing the earth.
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These animals are our future herd and losing them in a closed herd means a reduction of future income and a damage to business sustainability. Much more important, though, is that the welfare of cattle in our care was compromised by someone who did not care enough to change their behaviour after the last attack.
We should have shot the dogs while they were on yard, but I do not have a gun licence. If the signal had been better, I might have called my dad to use his gun. Instead, we prioritised our calves, it is what we do.
I am left disgusted, frustrated by the missed opportunities to prevent the attack and the lack of accountability that the dog owners have enjoyed.
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