A farmer was left bewildered after he and his sheepdog were reported to the RSPCA for sheep worrying when rounding up his flock.
Tom Trueman from Buckfastleigh, Devon, received a letter from the animal welfare charity with an incident number and two pamphlets on “dog behaviour” and “looking after dogs”.
The eighth-generation beef and sheep farmer feared he had been reported for reprimanding his dogs, but says he was unable to obtain any information from the RSPCA for two days.
An inspector then called him to say a member of the public had claimed his eight-year-old sheepdog, Tilly, had been attacking sheep, which is a criminal offence.
But the farmer said he had actually been rounding up his sheep after they ran onto the road.
“It’s been a waste of my time, it’s been a waste of the RSPCA’s time, and possibly the police,” Mr Trueman said, adding: “Society is doomed.”
Mr Trueman told The Independent he had been moving 20 sheep into another field when they ran down a country lane. He sent his dog to round them up, stopped a car on the road, and then drove the sheep back to his farm.
“When the incident took place, I was there, reprimanding the dog,” he explained.
Mr Trueman said receiving the letter was a “strange thing” and joked the person who reported the incident was a “bright spark”.
He explained the situation to the RSPCA inspector, and they “both had a good laugh over it”, he said.
“She told me to tear the letter up,” he added. “I couldn’t believe that someone honestly could report me to the RSPCA for clearly rounding up sheep.
“It’s a black and white dog, I’m wearing wellies… I’m not exactly looking like a standard dog walker, more like a farmer than anything. For someone to genuinely make that mistake is mind-boggling.”
Mr Trueman said it wasn’t the first time a member of the public had jumped to the wrong conclusion. A few years ago, he was reported to the RSPCA for leaving horses in a field without grass.
“It was actually our two retired racehorses that would go out for a couple of hours a day, while we mucked out the boxes, just to give them a bit of exercise.
“In this case, thankfully, it was all done over the phone, but in the past I’ve had the RSPCA just turn up out of the blue.”
A new law came into force in March, which gives police more powers to act in incidents where dogs chase or attack farm animals.
The government announced that the maximum penalty fine for livestock worrying has increased from £1,000 to an unlimited fine, and police can seize and detain a dog where they have reasonable grounds to believe it has attacked or worried livestock.
“The aim is to prevent livestock death and injury, which will save farmers thousands of pounds each year,” the government said.
A spokesperson for RSPCA said: “We are so grateful to people who report suspected animal suffering to us and we would like to reassure people we will always look into and, if necessary, investigate any complaints made to us about animal welfare.”
Devon and Cornwall Police has been contacted for comment.
