Police say they would been keen to develop a DNA dog database to tackle the growing problem of "sheep worrying" which is leaving thousands of farm animals in the UK dead or injured every year.

According to the organisation SheepWatch UK, 15,000 farm animals were killed by dogs in 2016.

NFU Mutual says sheep and other farm animals worth an estimated £1.2m were attacked by dogs last year.

But it's feared that number may be much larger, with a recent survey finding only 39% of farmers reported all attack incidents to police.

Some farming organisations hope an increase in awareness among dog owners about the dangers of letting dogs off the lead in the countryside will reduce the number of livestock deaths and injuries.


To try to combat the problem, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) says it has looked at developing a DNA database for dogs.

It would allow swabs to be taken from injured or killed sheep and run through the database to potentially match it to a dog's DNA and trace the owner.

Image: A recent survey found 60% of dog walkers allow their pets off the lead when in the countryside

Sheep worrying by dogs can carry a prison sentence or fine for the owner.

A recent survey by NFU Mutual found 60% of dog walkers allow their pets off the lead when in the countryside.

Detective Chief Constable Craig Naylor, the NPCC's lead for wildlife and rural crime, said: "We have previously explored developing a national DNA database for dogs, to assist police in investigating attacks on livestock.

"We are aware of work done in various laboratories that show the scientific opportunities available to law enforcement and would be keen to pursue this when budgets allow."

But the NPCC says budget constraints mean it is not currently possible to build such a database.

Farmer Judy Hancox, who runs Butts Farm Rare Breeds Farm in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, said five of her sheep were killed by two husky dogs in 2015, which were subsequently put down.

Image: Farmer Judy Hancox says the issue is 'a huge problem that every farmer has suffered'

She said: "It's a huge problem that every farmer has suffered. The last one I had was particularly horrible. Two huskies that got free from their owner in the fog and the tally at the end was five dead sheep and one injured.

"You feel so guilty as a sheep owner that you put your sheep through such a terrible thing. I've had multiple problems with dogs worrying and killing sheep."

Ms Hancox now runs a scheme to allow dog owners to come to her farm with their pets to acclimatise them to farm animals.

"Owners have no idea of what their dog is capable of, they absolutely adore their dogs to bits - but until they [the dogs] see a sheep there's no way of knowing what they're like around livestock," she said.

Navaratnam Partheeban, senior lecturer in livestock production at the Royal Agricultural University, says sheep worrying is a growing problem that needs to be tackled, but he believes implementing a DNA dog system would be difficult.

"It would be good to identity the dogs or culprits of any sheep worrying because in most incidents the dog isn't found, but I think a test like that would take a very long time to verify and to make sure we get positive results that correlate to the right dogs," he said.