A FIFE farmer has received death threats after shooting a dog that attacked his sheep.

Dave Bell has been targeted online since the Siberian husky's owner, Michael McCaffrey, accused him of killing the dog after it had been captured on a farm on the Balcarres Estate, Leven. A lamb and a ewe also died in the incident.

Mr McCaffrey accepted that his dog, named Stark, was in the field of sheep, but said that Mr Bell did not need to resort to shooting his pet, which he claims had escaped from his garden after a gate was left open.

Said Mr McCaffrey: “I totally respect that the sheep are his livelihood, but Stark was no longer a threat once he was tied up.

"I don’t condone sheep worrying. I know it’s wrong. Had a vet had to put him down I would have accepted that. If he’d still been running about then, yes, shoot him – but the fact was he had caught him.”

Mr Bell has since been targeted by a number of social media messages threatening his life.

Police Scotland confirmed the incident was under investigation. A spokeswoman for the force said: “The incident occurred around 5.30pm on April 27 at a farm near to Balcarres Mains in Leven. A joint investigation between Fife Council and the police is ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”