From Natural England Peterborough’s FB page:
“Today one of our volunteers was checking our sheep at Barnack Hills & Holes NNR and found a sheep in discomfort, it was lying down and wouldn’t move. 2 Natural England staff members went along to check the sheep out. It had been attacked by a dog, today or possibly yesterday, we called a vet who attended and they could do nothing for the sheep apart from put it to sleep. It had puncture wounds on its throat, back of the neck, nose & chin.
If anyone saw anything can they please contact Natural England (0300 060 6000). We have many regular dog walkers on Hills and Holes that are more than responsible on the site, it’s such a shame for everyone when incidents like this happen.
While dealing with this we had to stop 4 boys, (aged between 13 & 16 who I think were local as they had T-shirts on) from chasing and shouting at sheep scaring them. A really sad day for the site.”
In the parks of Milton Keynes they do have some sheep but other areas they have large cattle which can be rather agressive towards people and dogs if they approach. They are well able to defend themselves.
Just truly awful - and tragically not uncommon.
Latest:
This afternoon a staff member found a dog in the locked compartment where the sheep are at Barnack Hills and Holes. It was chasing the sheep!
Please be responsible for your dog whilst on any part of the NNR. Have your dog on a lead or under close control. This means you can see and call your dog at all times.
We have many responsible dog walkers that use the NNR, but the horrific attack less than 2 weeks ago followed by today’s incident is not acceptable!