MP slams Government over broken promise to tackle livestock worrying

On the floor of the House of Commons last night, Cumbrian MP Tim Farron criticised the Conservative Government for dropping new laws to tackle attacks on sheep.

The Government had previously committed to giving police extra powers to provide protection to livestock against dog control and bite incidents which can result in serious injuries and even death.

However the plans were dropped in their new Animal Welfare Bill which had its Second Reading in Parliament yesterday.

The pledge was one of 14 that the RSPCA claim that the Government have broken on animal welfare in recent years.

Last year, a farmer in Grange-over-Sands found 28 of her lambs dead after a suspected dog attack.

Attacks on livestock, or sheep worrying, have gone up by 65% in the region in the past year, according to insurance company NFU Mutual.

Speaking during a debate in Parliament on the Animal Welfare Bill, Tim said: “Livestock worrying is a serious problem for our communities in Westmorland.

“It is unbelievably distressing to farmers, their families and everybody else to see the goring of livestock by uncontrolled animals.

“In the Government’s original plans, the police would have been given additional powers to protect sheep and livestock from dogs, something that was not only an animal welfare issue, but an economic one for the farmers.

“There was no obvious reason why that would be dropped.”