A FARMER lost over half of his lambs in a dog attack.

James Bourne, 21, said he had never seen such an incident in the eight years he has been at Ty Dda Farm in Varteg.

He was alerted to the dog attack at midnight on Friday.

He said: “I went outside and saw three husky-type dogs that were attacking the lambs.”

He telephoned a friend for help. One dog was shot dead while the other two ran off towards a nearby estate.

The incident lasted until 5am and, in total, ten lambs were killed and one ewe, out of a herd of 19 lambs and 18 ewes.

The Argus has pictures of the lambs killed in the attack, but we felt they were too graphic to publish.

Mr Bourne said: “I have at least six other lambs that have been bitten, who have been treated, but, unfortunately, I don’t think that they will survive. People do not understand the problem that dogs can cause to livestock.”

He explained that some of the lambs would have been sold but some would have been used for breeding.

He estimates his loss is at least £1,500 for the dead lambs.

He said: “Farming is hard enough as it is. A lot of effort goes into raising sheep and it’s hard when something like this undoes your hard work.

"I want to warn people that if they have dogs hey should make sure that they can’t escape from their premises as it could end in such an incident happening.”

The owner of the dog that was shot, now identified as being a family pet called Fonzie, said he was upset to hear what his pet had done.

Trevor Tenneally explained that the dog, that had been a part of his family for three years, jumped a six foot high fence that enclosed his garden.

After he realised that the dog had run away he spent hours looking for him and posted information up on social media sites in hope that other people might spot him.

He said: “My dog paid the ultimate price but I agree that the farmer did the right thing to protect his animals.

"It’s very upsetting to realise that your pet can do such a thing.”

Gwent Police confirmed that they were called to the farm at 1.25am.

Anyone with information about the dogs can ring 101 and quote the log 34/ 250414.