SIR, – Being from generations of shepherds, I have been horrified at the way some have been catching sheep nowadays as portrayed in This Farming Life.
I don't think launching oneself off a quad bike and rugby tackling a sheep to the ground is the answer. I am sure that anybody not connected to farming must have been astounded to see a sheep brought down in this way.
Surely, if you breed and train collie dogs, you can train them to catch and hold the sheep – as my father did – and then the shepherd can catch them by the back leg with a proper shepherd's crook, thus being much kinder on the sheep and person involved?
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