THERE WAS much to celebrate in both political and farming camps this week, as Emma Harper MSP’s public consultation on livestock attacks drew to a close, having received an impressive 1053 responses.

However, it has since come under unexpected attack from the Kennel Club.

The south of Scotland MSP has been campaigning to raise awareness of the impact of livestock attacks on the farming community, and through a proposed members bill, hopes to help prevent future attacks with new legislation shaped by the support and advice she has gathered from her consultation.

Ms Harper’s work has been supported by the farming community, and by wider stakeholders, gaining support from all five political parties at Holyrood – with many MSPs backing her campaign and taking to social media to raise awareness.

However, barely hours after the consultation ended, the Kennel Club released a statement condemning Ms Harper’s proposed bill and highlighting what they believe to be flaws in her proposals.

Kennel Club Secretary, Caroline Kisko, commented: “With 1400 sheep on our own farm, sheep worrying is a serious issue for the Kennel Club; dog owners should always have their pets on lead around livestock, but crucially they must release their dogs if threatened by cattle.

“The tone and content of the proposals ignores this reality and focuses far too much on increasing penalties after sheep worrying has happened, rather than applying proven good practice to ensure the health and safety of people, sheep and dogs,” she stressed.

“Making people fearful of letting their dogs off lead when their lives are in danger from cattle, or making them feel unwelcome in the countryside when they are not causing any problems is bad for the health and wellbeing of both people and their pets, and adds to the burden on the NHS,” she continued.

“Evidence from previous Parliamentary reviews and the UK’s bigger farm insurer show that credible signage that keeps people safe and helps them avoid conflict with sheep is effective, and we are disappointed that the consultation failed to acknowledge the role farmers can play in reducing problems.

“Most of all, the unjustified blaming of all incidents on people walking dogs does nothing to deal with the biggest problem, which Police Scotland have shown comes from dogs escaping from gardens and being out alone,” she concluded.

Ms Harper had actively included The Kennel Club in discussions regarding her campaign and was disappointed to not have been warned or consulted prior to their release.

“My proposals are to protect livestock from being attacked by dogs,” Ms Harper responded. “It was therefore interesting to read this press release from the Kennel Club where they are suggesting that my proposed bill does not go far enough to protect people from potentially being injured by livestock.

“My consultation, which we must remember is an exercise to see what people’s views are on any potential change to strengthen current legislation - the Bill has not even been drafted yet - has shown that the appetite in Scotland from the farming community, as well as dog walkers, is that we now need a change in the law to better protect our livestock from attack by out of control dogs in the countryside,” she explained.

“The particular issue raised by the Kennel Club around the ability of people to release their dog if being chased by cattle is already practice in Scotland and is set out in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code – which I would encourage people to read ahead of venturing into our countryside. I therefore chose not to complicate my proposed bill with already existing regulation,” she continued.

“My message to the public is clear – enjoy Scotland's beautiful countryside but avoid being in fields of livestock with dogs, and if it is essential, please do it responsibly and keep the dogs under control and on a lead,” she urged. “Livestock attacks predominantly has an impact on sheep farmers, and Police Scotland figures show 338 attacks on livestock were reported to them last year alone.

“I will seek to meet with representatives from the Kennel Club to hear their concerns and to see what can be done to address them. 1,053 people and organisations have now provided responses to the consultation and we are in in the process of analysing and looking at each of these,” she concluded.