AN ABERDEENSHIRE farmer has expressed his frustration at the 'slow' and limited police response following sheep worrying on his farm last weekend.

Angus Greenlaw, of Sheep Park, Bridge of Marnoch, Huntly, said the incident happened between Saturday night and Sunday morning, and that, in total, he has lost six Texel cross Beltex ewe lambs, at a cost of around £120 each.

Mr Greenlaw claimed that a rottweiler/husky type breed of dog was spotted by locals in the area and that the local police had made a visit to the address where they suspected the dog was, but the door was not answered.

"The police do their best, but they are slow, and there are only so many things the police are allowed to do with regards to investigating what has happened," he said.

"If it is thought a particular dog is responsible for attacks like this, the police should have the power to be allowed to go and seize the dog, and then check the animal over for any evidence, like wool being caught on its skin, or blood around its mouth, because the dog that carried out this attack would definitely have blood around its mouth!

"Due to the fact no dog has yet been deemed responsible, I have had to take the sheep off the field, for fear that it happens again."

In response to this criticism, Police Scotland's rural crime co-ordinator Inspector Jane Donaldson said: “Police Scotland takes seriously, and investigates, every reported case of livestock worrying. We fully recognise the devastating consequences of a dog attacking, chasing or even being at large in a field where sheep are kept.

"We are aware that livestock worrying has previously been under-reported and that farmers were often reluctant to report incidents to police, particularly where there was a ‘near miss’ and no physical damage was done to their livestock," added Inspector Donaldson.

“A significant part of our bi-annual campaigns is to get the message out to farmers that they should report all incidents and I think that this is reflected in the increase in reported crimes in the last couple of years. During the Spring campaign in 2016 there was a 55% increase in reported crime, and a similar increase was also seen during the November 2016 campaign. Our detection rate in 2016 was 57 %, and slightly higher, 62% over the focused Spring campaign," she insisted.

"More accurate reporting has improved our understanding of the problem, increasing intelligence about the how, where and why these incidents are occurring; and farmers and those who use the countryside are urged to report all incidents of livestock worrying to police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.”