Vicious attack

By Clare Quirk
Updated November 7 2012 - 4:45am, first published April 29 2011 - 12:23pm
devastation: Family friend Tim Foster helps out with injured sheep.
devastation: Family friend Tim Foster helps out with injured sheep.

A BATTLING Fosterville farming family has been left devastated by a vicious dog attack in which more than 30 sheep were mauled.Sheep and cattle farmer Les Somerville said that in a lifetime of farming it had been the worst attack by dogs he had seen.The 85-year-old farmer said he went to check one paddock about 2.30pm on Thursday afternoon.“The sheep were scattered all over the paddock and there was wool everywhere,” he said.Mr Somerville said he saw a large and a small dog running away from the paddock into the bush and he estimated they had been there for a couple of hours.The ewes, valued at $180 each, were part of a 250-strong herd from Western Australia.Mr Somerville’s daughter-in-law Sheryl Somerville said the attack had devastated the family, who were still recovering from the drought and then floods earlier this year.“These are ewes that are 12 months old,” she said.“These are breeding stock and we’ve lost all that money. We were hoping to have lambs from them, but they’re in no condition for that.“These would have produced a couple of thousand dollars on each sheep.”The Somerville family have been on the 500-acre Somerville Lane property for more than 40 years.They worked most of Thursday night with neighbours and friends to move the sheep into the shearing shed.“We were in the dark, moving two at a time across two creeks,” Mrs Somerville said.“It’s devastating; we have to face the loss of income and the vet bills on top of everything else.“Today we’ve been shearing to make sure their wounds don’t get infected.“They’ve been bitten on the face and body and some ran into the fence.“It’s terrible to think that dogs could do such a thing. “People move to the country, get a property and think it’s OK to let their dogs run.“They might see blood on their dogs and think it’s from a kangaroo.“It’s been terrible; we’ve had them less than two weeks.“They’re still scared.”Mrs Somerville said the attack had been reported to Bendigo police.

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