Farmers are being left with huge bills caused by dog attacks on their livestock.

Cattle and sheep worth more than £400,000 have been savaged by dogs in over the past four years across the South East.

One in six dog owners admit their pooch has escaped from home - sparking concerns unsupervised pets are attacking livestock, especially at this peak time between January and April - the lambing period.

Scroll down to hear from a farmer whose animals were attacked

Rural insurer NFU Mutual is mounting a new campaign urging dog owners to keep their pets under control, as horrific attacks on sheep and other livestock continue to take their toll on farmers in Kent.

Although new research shows more dog owners are putting their pets on leads when livestock are nearby, the insurer says it is increasingly concerned by reports many attacks are being caused by dogs which have been let out in gardens, escaping and attacking sheep in neighbouring fields.

The research by NFU Mutual reveals one in six owners admitted their dog had escaped from home.

However more and more people, in fact, 52% are allowing their pets to go out in the garden unaccompanied when they're not at home, up from 43% last year.

In Canterbury last year, nine sheep were killed leaving Verity Garrett, of Elbridge Farm, Littlebourne, in Canterbury, devastated.

Since then her sheep have suffered two other attacks and she is still nursing some animals.

Mrs Garrett, said: "It is an increasing trend (attacks).

"We are relatively new to keeping sheep this is only our fourth year.

"But in the last four months we've had three separate attacks.

"The first attack was by far the most serious in terms of numbers of sheep loss and just the carnage we found.

"Two loose dogs got into the field with a group of ewes and they killed several in the field and caused the rest to get out of the field.

So we had to spend the morning finding the sheep and working out what injuries they have got and getting them back to be treated.

"A couple were so badly injured had to be put to sleep and others we had to nurse back to health.

"We never found where the dogs came from or why they roaming free in the middle of the night.

"The other two events we know one of them was a man walking his dog on a footpath and didn't have control of their dog and he was shouting at his dog but in that time the dog managed to bite two of our sheep, one of which we had to have put down.

"The first attack I worked out we lost a four figure sum in money terms, as well as the emotional loss.

"Everyone should enjoy the countryside and everyone needs to get out more, but it is just about being responsible.

"It is about keeping your dog on the lead no matter how much you think you can trust it - I don't think any dog can be trusted 100%"

Known as livestock worrying, dog attacks on farm animals can result in horrific and often fatal injuries.

Even if a dog doesn’t make contact, the distress of the chase can cause sheep to die and miscarry their lambs.

The peak time for attacks is during lambing period, which coincides with the time more families visit and stay in the countryside.

According to the research carried out this year, 87% of dog owners exercise their pets in the countryside, with more than 60% letting them roam off the lead.

If there is a sign warning dog owners that livestock are in a field, more people 95% are putting their dogs on the lead than in 2018, when it was just 90%.

Rebecca Davidson, Rural Insurance Specialist at NFU Mutual, said: “While it’s encouraging news that more people are putting their dog on the lead while out in the countryside, dog attacks are still at a very high level.

"We are receiving increasing reports of local dogs escaping from homes and attacking sheep, either because their owners do not know or do not care that their dogs are roaming wild and causing havoc.

“Thousands of sheep are being killed and horribly mutilated by dogs and we will be redoubling our efforts to raise awareness of the issue, and helping police to bring owners of dogs which attack livestock to justice.

“As the insurer of nearly three-quarters of the UK’s farmers, we are sadly all too aware of the heartbreak and distress that dog attacks cause.

"For the South East’s small farmers in particular, livestock worrying is devastating because it has a huge impact on their livelihood.

"While insurance can cover the cost of replacing stock killed and the treatment of injured animals, there is a knock-on effect on breeding programmes that can take years to overcome.”