Sheep Killed in Dog Attack

Owner Gillian Stone had already lost three much loved pets, and a fourth was badly mauled with chunks torn out of its neck and back leg.

The most recent attack saw the death of Darcy, a hand-reared favourite from the small flock of South Down ewes and lambs.

Gillian said she was "shocked beyond belief."

She added: "I have gone beyond outrage now. I am just devastated."

Gillian told the Observer last week how two dogs were found on her land following the second attack, then handed back to their owner, and this last time were seen by independent witnesses at the caravan site on Watermill Lane.

Sussex Police are now taking statements and Gillian is waiting to see if the owner is to be prosecuted, and the dogs destroyed, but meanwhile she and partner Robert Schifreen are moving their remaining herd away, and friends on neighbouring land fear for the safety of their own animals as well as their small children.

Robert said: "We know exactly who it is but there is nothing we can do. It is very sad."

Gillian is continuing to monitor Buffy, the young ewe so badly injured in the second attack which left two others dead.

"We don't know if she has nerve damage or not. But she can't lift her head up, so it might be that a nerve on her neck was bitten through. I am just surprised she didn't die of shock."

As she waits the outcome of police investigations, Gillian has written an emotional account of what has happened to her beloved pets, which is included our Letters Page."