Moneygall sheep 'massacre': Appeal to track down dogs that slaughtered 50 animals

A major appeal has been launched to find the dogs that killed 50 lambs on a Moneygall farm at the weekend.

The animals were slaughtered in an attack by at least two dogs on the farm of John Healy outside Moneygall on Saturday.

The gardaí in Nenagh have said attempts are being made to locate the two large dogs that were seen attacking the flock.
“These dogs would have returned to their owners covered in blood and someone may have witnessed these dogs,” said Sgt Declan O’Carroll, who made an appeal for information.

Mr Healy described the attack as a “massacre” which could cost him €10,000.

Speaking on local radio, he said that he received a call from his mother on Saturday morning that sheep were in the backyard and knew something was wrong.

He called his sons and they went to the field where they found “dead lamb after dead lamb”.

Mr Healy said his sons spotted the dogs but they got away.

He went to the field and described what he was met with as something he never wanted to see again.

“There were 120 lambs in that field and 50 of them were dead,” he said.

The surviving sheep are now being housed indoors.

“These dogs killed for sport. The sheep were caught by the throat and killed,” he said.

Mr Healy believes that in one attack, the sheep were corralled into a corner and one dog kept them in check while the other killed them as the sheep were found in a pile.

He said the owners of the dogs must know what their dogs did.

“They went back home exhausted and covered in blood,” he said.

He appealed to the owners to put the dogs down “because they will kill again”.

Mr Healy said such attacks were not covered by insurance and he would have to shoulder all the costs.

“I was depending on them to pay the bills,” he said. “I’ll now have to go to the bank with my hands out.”

He called the gardaí after the attack and said their response had been “very helpful”.

Meanwhile, North Tipperary IFA chair Baden Powell also appealed for the owners to have the dogs put down to make sure there was no repetition.

He described the attack as “absolutely terrible” and said that he had spoken to Mr Healy.

“This happened in the morning at around 9am. The dogs took one bite to the neck and moved on,” he said.

Mr Powell said that IFA president and Toomevara farmer Tim Cullinan was due to meet the Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, this Tuesday to bring in legislation that would put the onus for such attacks on the dog owners.

Saying Mr Healy now faced “serious financial loss”, the IFA chair said that apart from extra fodder cost as the lambs were now kept indoors, Mr Healy would face a disposal bill anything up to €900.

The IFA was trying to find some way to help alleviate that, he said.

Mr Powell appealed to owners to be vigilant as their dogs might be “pets by the fire but could also be vicious killers”.