OF THE many sheep-worrying pictures The Scottish Farmer has been shown of late, these are doubtlessly the worst – sheep with their faces ripped off, still standing in the short time it took to arrange humane dispatch.

This happened last Saturday near Inveraray, Argyll, when sheep were mauled, maimed and killed by at least one large dog, possibly more than one.

The farmers involved note that is a small community so someone knows whose dogs were involved in this horrific attack.

The NFUS willingly highlighted these horrible pictures on its social media, as an unpleasant but perhaps necessary way of building awareness of the issue, in tandem with Police Scotland, NSA and QMS. The Scottish Farmer is therefore happy to do the same, despite the ‘graphic’ nature of these pictures.