Dogs running free on farm land puts livestock at risk, owners warned

The warning was given after an incident on farmland when a dog walker was spotted trespassing on a field near Goostrey.

The owner of a brown spaniel, a man in his 30s, had let the dog off the lead in the field where there is no public footpath and refused to stop when the farmer tried to alert him of danger.

In the same area were young heifers with four bulls which could easily have been spooked by the dog and charged the individual.

Farmers in Cheshire are concerned that as well as the safety of walkers, the spread of the fatal disease Neosporosis could be caught by grazing livestock from dog faeces left lying in pastures.

The problem of infection has become so acute in rural areas due to increasing dog ownership during the coronavirus pandemic, the National Farmers Union (NFU) has urged farmers to be on the alert for signs of animal mess left by irresponsible owners.

Most country people are aware of the dangers but a surge of new residents in the area are mostly ignorant of the dangers of walking across open farmland with dogs off the lead.

"I tried to warn him about the bulls but he just kept running ahead of me and he knew he was in the wrong," said the farmer who owns the land.

"He was obviously trespassing and should not have been there without permission and certainly not with a dog off the lead.

"Bulls are very protective of heifers and once they see a threat they can become very aggressive, and it can easily happen for someone to be charged and trampled even to death."

Dog owners are being urged to be stick to public footpaths when walking pets through the countryside.

The farmer added: "Neosporosis is easily picked up grazing livestock and results in cows not only suffering terrible distress but aborting their calves.

"That is why it is so important people keep dogs on leads and do not go into fields without permission or stray off public footpaths."