Police investigation and farmer confrontation

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Not one for sending text then, eh Oh no, he hasn't even read the messages I sent him three days ago. he's very exciting. he's taking a gap you' at his age. not only something for the youngsters. Wh he's such an adventurer? I mean most people his age would put themselves onto a cruise fully catered every convenience. Not thatad. I bet you're missing him H More than I ever thought I would I miss his quiet wry comments, even though they sometimes used to irritate me. Yeah, you let us know when you get your first postcard, won't you? We should run a guess where Jym goes next competition. A good deal with a holiday, I'm not sure how I'd feel about going on my own Now what I loved about the trips I took himoranda were the evenings, yeah. gllass of wine, seafood, sunset, well lapping at the ocean against golden sands, all those cliches Yeah. I was a tiny bit jealous of you two flitting off every few months It's a shame it didn't work out. Yeah. We both need our heads knocking together, really. If we had any sense, we'd just book a gorgeous holiday before the schools break up and put the past behind us. I could certainly do with the opportunity to have a break from my children To say the last few months have been difficult would be an understatement. H I heard Adam steppped down from managing home farm. Oh, don't get me started. Even Kate seems to got into a head that I'm at fault and actually, I'm the victim in all this OkayK, well'll check on the uses and then if you're not in the hurry to get back, I'd like to pop in and ask Brian a couple of things about the Bches to show. My never ending to do list. sounds good. I'm always up for a fancy coffee from the home fararm office. Stella said that she heard a rumour that Adam has completely quit. Well, I heard the same but not from the horse's mouth. Either horse. Brian or Adam. What's up with them? They sound a bit distressed. Hang on. Oh what what the Dad? Oh no Oh I can't Oh Oh some idiot a dog Dad stop. When I can't I can't dad, please. it's too far off. Stop. It's caron I'm calling the police. Dad, you call Alistair We need to get help. four five Oh No twelve, thirteen fourteen. It's at least fifteen. That lamb's ripped apart. Oh If I find the dog that did this, I'll blow its brains out I can hear it. No, Dad, we've got to focus. helpelp the injured youews, save the ones that we can. Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, come on.ome. we just set off earlier we chased the dog away. We've been scared it off. I know okay. Okay, deep breath. Deep breaths. All right. G. Okay, our ring nine ninetiney nine now Tella Tell the police, We think the dog that did this is still nearby. I will. And tell them to hurry. makeake them understand. fifteen dead I reckon They need to catch it. It's out of control. Yeah, I'm doing it now. You just concentrate on getting Alistair up here because we are going to have more die if we don't get help quickly It just seems so pty. Well I reckon families often need a bit of time to cool down before getting back round the table. Back in the ring Mo. sorry, I'll have to get this Hi David.ep farm a do attack. v is. Oh David, I'm so sorry. I'm on my way. How many injred sheep Have you called the police? And the dog Okay, if it comes back, don't approach it. I'm leaving now. I'll be there as soon as I can. What's happened? It's David's sheep. A dog attack. How calm. Yeah, sounds terrific. He's in a terrible state. You should come too, Brian, if you can. I'll see you up. Oh, that's awful. Yes. Alist's right, I should go. The police might want to speak to me Good afternoon. Are you Peter? I am and this is my dad. Oh hi, we've met before David Archer. I'm PC Nicola Truman from the Rural Crime Tam. I'm so sorry this has happened, but thanks for coming so quickly. I wasn't far from you when I got the call. I understand this is distressing for you, but it would be useful to get a quick estimate of scale, so I can let crime scene investigation know How many dead? How many injured? What we think fifteen dead and at least four injured, maybe more. This little fellow here, he's one of the lucky ones. There are two lambs over there with huge bike marks, flesh ripped ears torn off. never seen anything like it. Do you have a vette on the way? Yes. We've called Alista Lloyd from Level James. I think that's him now. I'll just let him know where we are. Alisa. Okay, good. And am I right that the sheep are yours, but the land belongs to home Farm? That's right The investigation team are on their way. They'll need to take forensic photos and samples from the dead sheep. But your vet can start treating the injured livestock straight away. There's no need to wait for them. OK, I'll let them know. I'll be recording everything on my body cam and I've called in a police drone team to film the scale of the attack. Alisair over here. So you said you heard barking as you entered the field? We did, yeah, from that direction to the north I've called in a police stg handler, but I'm guessing it might have traveveled some distance by now. We might have missed our chance of restraining it. David, Pip, I'm so sorry. Anoon. I'm Pacea Treman, rural Crime offfficer. Hi, Alisa Lloyd. I'll get straight to work if that's okay with you. Of course. Can you start with this lamp? His left ear has been completely ripped off, but it's the bite wound on his side I'm worried about. He's bleeding heavily. I've been trying to stem it. Okay. And then I'll tra ask the rest of the flock. Another vet's on the way from our practice in Porchester. Right. If you're okay, I'll take a look around the field, get some footage Can you come with me, Pet? Y. It will be useful to have someone with me who's familiar with the farm. Yeah of course. Po me if you need me, dad. Yeah, we'll do. Right. We'll need to work fast. What can I do? Well I'm going to start by sewing up this tear, then dress the wound and give him antibiotics his mother survived We keep thinking of how we brought every one of these lambs carefully into the world. but all ours are the day and night And how senselessly they've been sluted We're seeing this kind of incident far too often that this is an unusually brutal attack. I don't know what we can do. There's signs all over the countryside telling owners to keep dogs on leave. It only takes one who thinks they know best, thinks their dog is so well behaved that they won't be driven by their natural instincts. I'd love to make great big billboards with photos of those poor dead lambs It only takes one dog plasted across him. At least we've got much stricter laws on livestock worrying now meeans we have more power to collect evidence. and we can serve owners with unlimited fines. Oh here's another you. Look at her thing. I'll get a couple of photos. The investigations team will swap for the dog's DNA. It's tricky on oily sheep's wool, but they're good and they'll take impressions of bite marks too. I'm hopeful we'll get something we can use. I'd love whoever's responsible to get properly punished. Well, the publicity around a conviction is important for prevention too. So this is the northern boundary of the sheep field Over there is Arable. Okay. I could really do with speaking to the owner of the farm. But he's on his way. And his name? Brian Aldridge. Oh, yes. You know him? Mmh I had the pleasure of speaking to him a couple of weeks ago All right, girl, all right This should help prevent any nasty infections. I got it U That's it. Good girl Next I'll flush the bite mark out with Siline and get an antiseptic solution on it. All right Wonder how Pit's getting on? hopefully they've met up with a police dog Hle. I don't hold up much hope of them catching the one that did it I bet the local dog owners will start rumours about big cat sightings. anything other than admitting some responsibility for their own reckless behaviour.ang That Oh, okay, I'll look out for it. Thanks, h Working miracles. Okay, see you soon Right, the fall' stop chap's on his way. Well he's not having this one. She's a fighter, h. I'll need to get the injured sheep into our trailer and back down to a barn at Brookfield to recover Oh, Ruth doesn't even know yet. She'll be heartbroken. Do you want to ring her now? I'm almost done here. When I finish stitching this wound, I'll get onto the National Sheep Association to report it as a dog worrying incident. Tell them dog worrying doesn't quite cut it. Try savage murderous attacks A hereere's mister Aldridge. Yeah. I bumped into your dog handle on the way up here. fififteen dead she. I'm afraid it's an extremely serious dog incident. Oh Come with this. Alist's here. He's helping the ones he can. They must have been terrified. You might want to prepare yourself, Brian. It's sickening. We're hopeful we'll be able to trace the dog using DNA samples. Thankfully the new amendments to the law give us more robust powers to investigate. No aboutout time there was some serious protection for farmers. A, here he is. The big man. I trusted you with my flock. mister Archer