What to do if your dog chases sheep
Call your dog back and put it on the lead at once. Then tell the farmer and the police: 999 if it is still happening, 101 once it is over. In England and Wales letting a dog chase sheep is a crime with an unlimited fine since March 2026, and a farmer may shoot a dog that is worrying their sheep.
It happens in seconds. A dog that has walked past sheep a hundred times goes through a gap in the wall, and by the time you have shouted its name twice it is in the middle of the flock. What you do in the next few minutes is simple, and it matters more than how it happened.
On the day
Get your dog back and on the lead. Call it, go to it if you can do so without chasing the sheep further, and clip the lead on.
Tell the farmer. If you know whose sheep they are, or there is a farm in sight, go and tell them. Police Scotland's advice to an owner whose dog has chased livestock is three steps: "recall your dog and put them on a lead", "call the landowner to tell them your dog has attacked or disturbed their animals", and "report it to us". Read 30 September 2026. Police Scotland, livestock attacks and worrying.
Tell the police. In England the advice is the same shape: 999 if it is happening, 101 once the dog has left. Read 30 September 2026. BCP Council, livestock worrying and National Sheep Association, sheep worrying leaflet.
It is tempting to leave quietly because the sheep look fine. They may not be. The National Sheep Association says "the stress of being chased can be enough to kill a sheep", and that chasing can cause a ewe to lose her lamb or lose track of it. A farmer who knows can check the flock that day. Read 30 September 2026.
Why it happens
It is not bad training, or not only. The National Sheep Association puts it bluntly: "Any dog can worry livestock, no matter how well trained." Worrying is not only biting, either: it has "many forms - barking, chasing, biting, killing." Read 30 September 2026. The only dog anybody can be sure of near sheep is one on a lead.
The farmer and the gun
The Countryside Code says it without softening: "A farmer can shoot a dog that is attacking or chasing livestock." Read 30 September 2026, from the version last updated 26 May 2023. The Countryside Code.
In England and Wales that rests on the Animals Act 1971. Someone who kills or injures a dog has a defence if they did it to protect livestock, the dog was worrying or about to worry them, and there was no other reasonable way to stop it; or if the dog had been worrying them, had not left, was under nobody's control, and there was no practical way to find its owner. They must tell the police within 48 hours. Read 30 September 2026. Animals Act 1971, section 9.
What it can cost
Since 18 March 2026 the fine for letting a dog worry livestock in England and Wales is unlimited, where it was £1,000. The same change counts incidents on roads and paths, and gives the police powers to seize and hold a dog and to take samples and impressions from it. Read 30 September 2026. GOV.UK, new law comes into force to protect farm animals from dog attacks. Separately, the keeper of a dog that kills or injures livestock is liable for the damage. Read 30 September 2026. Animals Act 1971, section 3. The rest of the law, and what a lead near sheep means, is in dogs near sheep and cattle.
How often police deal with it
Often. When the National Sheep Association surveyed police forces in 2024, three in four rural crime teams said dog attacks on sheep had increased, and more than half said it was the rural crime reported to them most. Published 25 March 2024, read 30 September 2026. National Sheep Association, 2024 survey.
The numbers
| What the force said | Share of forces |
|---|---|
| Dog attacks on sheep have increased in recent years | 78% |
| We respond to one at least once a month | 76% |
| It is our most often reported rural crime | 57% |
| We deal with one every week | 33% |
What the app can tell you before you go
A walk that passes grazing fields says "Livestock possible", because a field mapped as grazing is where sheep may be, not where they are today. If your dog cannot be trusted near sheep, tell us so, and a walk beside grazing fields counts against it when we choose walks for you. The same goes for cattle, which are a different problem with a different answer: that is in cows and dogs.
Questions this answers
- What should I do if my dog chases sheep?
- Call it back and put it on the lead. Then tell the landowner or farmer, and report it to the police: 999 if the dog is still chasing and sheep are being hurt, 101 if it is over. Police Scotland's advice to dog owners is the same three steps: recall and lead, call the landowner, report it.
- Can a farmer shoot my dog for chasing sheep?
- Yes, in some circumstances. In England and Wales the Animals Act 1971 gives a defence to someone who kills or injures a dog to protect livestock, when the dog is worrying or about to worry them and there is no other reasonable way to stop it. They must tell the police within 48 hours.
- What is the fine for a dog worrying sheep?
- Since 18 March 2026 it is unlimited in England and Wales. It was £1,000. The same change brought in incidents on roads and paths, and gave the police powers to seize a dog and take samples from it.
- Do I have to pay for sheep my dog hurts?
- In England and Wales, the keeper of a dog that kills or injures livestock is liable for the damage under section 3 of the Animals Act 1971.
Read next
- The rules of the groundPheasant shooting season: what it means on a dog walkPheasants may be shot from 1 October to 1 February. A shoot cannot close a public footpath, but it can close access land for a day. What that means with a dog.
- The rules of the groundDo dogs have to be on a lead? The law in England, Wales and ScotlandNo law puts every dog on a lead in public in Britain. Here is where one does: roads, council orders, open access land, fields with sheep, and Scotland's rules.
- The rules of the groundDogs on leads in Yorkshire: what every council's dog order saysWhat each Yorkshire council's dog control order actually says, read from the sealed orders rather than the web pages, with the dates they run out.