Amy Hume
A KILMORE East couple is warning residents about the implications of dog attacks after they returned home to find their sheep mauled to death.
Mavis and Allan Wilcox came home on Friday afternoon to see one of their sheep mauled to death near their homestead and three floating in the dam.
The couple believes dogs previously seen roaming the area are at fault.
“We think the dog chased the sheep around the dam and scared them into the water,” Ms Wilcox said.
She said the sheep would have fallen in the mud and drowned after their wool filled with water, weighing them down. Some of the sheep recovered from the dam are covered in bite marks.
Three of the ewes were pregnant and due to lamb in a week’s time.
The Wilcox’s were not the only people in the area to lose sheep to a suspected dog attack.
Neighbour John Dixon had found one of his sheep mauled to death on his property last week.
Mr Dixon assisted the Wilcox’s retrieve their sheep from the dam on Friday.
“It has all the markings of a dog,” Mr Dixon said.
“A fox won’t go a sheep, it’ll go a lamb. Dog attacks are a real problem.”
The Wilcox’s have had sheep on their 15-acre property for 18 years and say this is not the first time this has happened.
“The dogs don’t do it for hunger, they do it for fun,” Ms Wilcox said.
“People need to be aware when they have dogs that this is what can happen when they get out and people need to know about this.”
The couple said they have reported the dog attacks to council in the past but there is nothing they can do unless the dog at fault is identified.
The couple is appealing to all dog owners in the area to keep a close eye on their dogs.
If you see a dog off-leash report it to council on 5734 6200.
