DOG walkers have been urged to keep their pets on leads as the lambing season gets underway - or risk them getting shot by farmers.
Yorkshire Water says that even if your dog is generally docile, they can cause extreme distress to sheep when unleashed off their lead.
Last year, one particular dog also chased a whole flock of sheep which resulted in thirty ewes miscarrying their lambs due to the stress it caused.
Under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, if a dog worries sheep on agricultural land, the person in charge of the dog is guilty of an offence and the farmer even has the right to shoot it.
