Selena Swanson stands on the fresh straw inside a stone shed on her family farm, cradling a few-days-old lamb in her arms. There are stab wounds across the infant’s soft white fur and a haunted look in its eyes. Where its tail should be is a bloodied stump turned dark yellow from the latest application of iodine.

The hardy sheep farmers of Caithness in northernmost Scotland don’t often give their livestock names. But Selena has taken to calling this one “Stumpy”. It is more than a mere term of endearment; Stumpy is one of the lucky ones.

Just outside of the lambing shed lie three tiny bodies. Their eyes and tongues have been pecked clean out and they are partially disembowelled. It is a shocking sight but one that has become all too common here. For Selena her husband John and their two children Bethany 10, and James, 8, the lambing season used to be the highlight of the year. Now it conjures visions of hell.