Farmer wants pitbull killed after lamb attack

A farmer is demanding that a pitbull terrier that attacked 30 of his lambs be destroyed.

Shane Anderson fought the crazed dog off with a broom and a bucket at his Warkworth farm on Thursday. His paddock is protected by a 1.5m fence that includes barbed wire and electric fencing but the dog crawled underneath.

The farmer did every thing right to protect his stock, from what I've read.

Eight of the seven-month-old lambs were injured, and three had to be shot. "It's only because I was there that I didn't lose all 30," said Anderson.

During the struggle, the dog's owner Jillian Taylor, her teenage daughter and a friend tried to call it off. It was eventually returned to Taylor's car. But Anderson was angry police and Rodney District Council dog control officers allowed it to be taken home.

I'm a bit curious too. I mean, I thought that farmers were allowed to kill dogs on the spot if caught killing stock! This will be an interesting case.

(...)

Anderson wanted it destroyed immediately, but owner Jillian Taylor said it was a 10-year-old family pet. She described the incident as an "unfortunate accident" and accused Anderson of wanting to make "a big drama" out of it. "It's not a vicious dog, it's not a vicious attack."

Really? I could have sworn that killing a bunch of lambs could be called vicious, and attack, and maybe even vicious attack.

Why didn't this woman ask to pay for the lost lambs that the farmer incurred. I mean, that's the least she could do instead of denying that this even occurred and making as if it's 'nothing'. No wonder farmers get fed up with 'city-types'.

The incident follows a string of pitbull attacks on humans. And blaming the breed won't help. A lot of dumb people own all sorts of dogs could have done this to the lambs.

A Tauranga man attacked at home by his own dogs in the latest incident remained in a serious condition in Waikato Hospital yesterday. The 34-year-old man was savaged by the "pitbull-type" animals on Friday. I rest my case!