Fifteen sheep killed in dog attack on a county Tipperary farm

Gardaí are investigating a serious dog attack on sheep in the Cloneen area that resulted in the deaths of 15 ewes belonging to one farmer.  

The devastating sheep kill happened at Kilnagranagh, Cloneen on  Friday, December 30  at approximately 9pm. The dog attack was reported to Fethard Garda Station. 

A Clonmel Garda Station spokesperson said they don’t know if one or more dogs were involved in the attack. 

She appealed to people living in that area to report any stray dog or dogs they see to the gardaí or Tipperary County Council’s Dog Warden. 

She also appealed to dog owners to be responsible and ensure their pets are under their control at all times day and  night. 

This was the second significant sheep kill in county Tipperary in the space of two weeks.  Farmer Donal O’Donoghue from Redwood, Lorrha lost 70 sheep when his flock was savagely attacked by dogs over the Christmas period.   

Forty-five of his sheep were killed outright, another 20 had to be put down because they were so badly injured and another five are missing. 

Gardaí in Nenagh are investigating the sheep kill discovered on Tuesday, December 27.  

IFA Sheep Committee Chairman Kevin Comiskey has called for stronger regulation of dog ownership. 

He said last week  it was simply not good enough for dogs to be allowed to roam free and cause this level of damage. 

Mr Comiskey led an IFA delegation that met   Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue and Minister for Rural & Community Development Heather Humphreys early last year and proposed  strong measures   to curb dog attacks on sheep flocks.  

 He said unfortunately the IFA  hadn’t  seen any progress on any of these proposals in the past few months.

In the wake of the latest sheep kills, Ministers McConalogue and Humphreys met on Monday   to discuss how their departments can respond.

They set up a working group to examine issues such as fines under the Control of Dogs Act, enforcement at local authority level, the provision of dog wardens, microchipping, promoting responsible dog ownership and licences.  The group will meet in the coming days and report to the two Ministers. 

The  Ministers  said they will consult and engage with relevant stakeholders to update them regularly on the group’s  progress. 

Meanwhile,  anyone with information that may assist gardaí investigating the sheep kill at Kilnagranagh, Cloneen should contact Clonmel Garda Station at (052) 6177640.