A farming family concerned their pregnant ewes could lose their lambs have issued a stark warning to dog owners.

Dogs running around fields off leads chasing or causing stress to sheep – a criminal offence known as livestock worrying – can result in a ewe miscarrying.

WARNING: Some graphic images below

Donna Walker-Hudson, 46, who works alongside stepfather Chris Weller, says they have already experienced cases of pets running around their fields in St Mary’s Bay, on Romney Marsh, this season.

A total of 124 lambs are due over the next few months but Mrs Walker-Hudson fears the worse due to the distress the dogs have been causing.

Mrs Walker-Hudson said: “We were out rearing sheep the other day and the farmer told us they saw people in our field letting their dogs run around with the sheep.

“People need to remember at this time of year the ewes are in lamb.

“We have 124 lambs due over the next four months, I don't want people going in and frightening them.

“People need to be reminded dogs should be kept on leads, it makes me cross that people are not using their common sense.

“It puts stress on the ewes and it can cause them to abort their pregnancy.

“Dogs don’t know when to stop. If sheep run off, dogs think they are playing with them but they're not, they're scared.

“We don't need any more dog attacks on the Marsh.”

In May 2022, two sheep belonging to Mr Weller had to be put down after they were mauled in a suspected dog attack.

In all, four sheep were injured in the incident which occurred on a small-holding at Eighteen Acre Lane, near Old Romney.

Following the previous attack, Mrs Walker-Hudson created signs to put up around the Romney Marsh area, warning dog owners to keep their pets on leads around livestock, but she says people have been ripping these down.

“We printed out special signs in red and blue colours and put them up,” she explained.

“We laminate them and put them on boards and staple them to fence posts.

“But for some reason, people have been ripping them down, it’s clearly not the wind pulling them off.

“I was so upset after the last dog attack.

“We had the vet out and once she lifted up the ewe’s neck, all the insides fell out and I cried.

“That is the worst animal cruelty and it's heartbreaking to see.

“Although it is a business and it's a food source, some of them we have hand-reared to breed for the future so they are like our pets.

“I have five dogs and I wouldn't take my dogs to the farm with me.

“My husband works for another farm on the Marsh where there is no livestock and it is all crops and we have tracks there we can walk our dogs away from livestock.”

Mrs Walker-Hudson has since created more signs which she has placed around St Mary’s Bay with the hope it will encourage dog owners to be responsible.

Under the Animals Act 1971, anyone acting to protect livestock may kill or injure a dog they reasonably believe is 'worrying' without incurring any criminal or civil liability.

As a dog's owner, or a person in charge of a dog, you could be committing an offence if the animal worries livestock on agricultural land.

Worrying includes attacking or chasing livestock in a way that might reasonably be expected to cause injury or suffering or loss.