SIR — Farmers have the right to shoot a dog on sight if it is seen anywhere near their sheep, even if it is in the field adjacent to them.
How is it then, when hounds run through a flock of sheep, legally nothing can be done about it?
An apology does not compensate for the stress caused to the sheep.
A hunt was hunting on land owned by my landlord, who allows them to continue to hunt with hounds.
I have six pet sheep, two of which are elderly and one very arthritic. A short while ago, the hunt were on his land at the top of a ridge about a mile away.
They were so far away that you could only just tell that it was people on horseback. The hounds could be heard but could not be seen very well.
I then saw approximately six hounds on their own next door to my property, in the owner's garage. The hounds then ran through the sheep in my field where they were grazing.
The sheep were extremely traumatised to the extent that one of them actually collapsed and did not recover for about two hours.
My dogs could have been shot if they had done to same thing on someone else's land. Where's the justice in that?
Angela Stockdale,
Wheddon Cross.