Rural crime 2024: livestock worrying
CLA National Access Adviser Claire Wright explains why we are in need of new legislation to address livestock worrying in the UK
Once again, the farming press and regional media has recently been reporting on incidents where livestock have been chased, attacked and killed by pet dogs. However, this isn’t simply an anecdotal trend.
Analysis from NFU Mutual’s insurance claim data showed a 30% rise in livestock worrying incidents where animals were injured or killed during 2023. This came at a cost of £2.4m to the rural economy.
The situation has been exacerbated by the increase in pet ownership since the pandemic. Veterinary charity, the PDSA, estimate that 6% of the total pet owners in the UK acquired their animals in the last few years. This equates to an additional 4.1m dogs since March 2020.
These animals need to be exercised somewhere, and increasingly their owners are making their way to rural areas to use the public rights of way network and open access land. Issues can arise when inexperienced owners with little knowledge of the Countryside Code and dogs with poor recall come into contact with livestock.
Legislation to prevent livestock worrying
Earlier this year, Dr Thérèse Coffey brought forward a private member’s bill to parliament aiming to give the police greater powers to tackle livestock worrying.
The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill would have introduced measures to modernise existing legislation, for example, alpacas would have been included in the definition of livestock. There would also have been measures to allow the police wider powers of entry in relation to such incidents; to be able to collect DNA samples from dogs suspected of involvement in livestock worrying incidents and powers to seize and detain dogs after serious incidents of attacks.
Unfortunately, this proposed bill had not passed by the time parliament was dissolved following the summer general election. Due to the change in government, the bill fell and will no longer progress.
The CLA is calling on MPs to back a fresh attempt at getting legislation to protect livestock from dog attacks passed this parliament. We would encourage members to contact their MP about this issue and encourage them to apply for a Private Member’s Bill in the 2025 ballot with the hope of taking this legislation forward in the next parliamentary session.
For more information on livestock worrying and the current legal position, members are encouraged to download the relevant CLA Guidance Note or to contact their regional office.
