Cheshire farmer backs change to policing rural dog attacks

A farmer whose animals have been attacked by dogs twice said he hoped a change in the law would help bring more offenders to justice.

Phil Latham, from Cheshire, said he collected DNA and video footage after one attack but was told by the police it could not be used.

Chester South and Eddisbury MP Aphra Brandreth’s bill would give police more powers to use such evidence and extend the offence of livestock worrying to cover animals such as alpacas.

Mr Latham said the impact of dog attacks was “not just the money, but the heartache”.

Brandreth told BBC Politics North West the bill was about “responsible dog ownership”, and it had been prompted by her meeting Mr Latham last year.

The Conservative MP’s bill, the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill, will reach the next stage of the process in Parliament on Friday.

It will add to police powers around the seizure of dogs and collection of evidence from both dogs and livestock, and increase the maximum penalty from £1,000 to an unlimited fine.

The NFU said UK farm animals worth £1.8m were severely injured or killed in dog attacks last year.

Mr Latham said the first attack at his farm in Chorley, near Nantwich, 18 out of 20 calves in a pen were severely injured.

He said the second attack had two vets and three members of staff working for five hours to treat the animals.

“The first thing you want to do is look after your animals. It’s what we try to do.

“We’re trying to optimise the calf welfare because if they’re happy they grow better, and we’re happy.

“So when you find that they’ve been severely bitten, bits of skin hanging off or muscles detached, that is really distressing.”

He said he was “incredibly frustrated” to learn the evidence he had gathered after the second attack could not be used in a prosecution.

“Those tests are good enough to put people away for life, but they’re not good enough – or weren’t – to allow to determine whether a dog had attacked a calf or not.

“It’s quite simply ridiculous,” he said.

Brandreth said: “Phil showed me photos of a horrific dog attack. It was really awful to see the damage that they had caused.

“I realised it was an opportunity for me to try and make a difference for farmers like Phil and also animal welfare because it’s so vitally important.”

Ms Brandreth said the bill had been worked on with MPs across different parties and also Welsh MPs.