Hundreds of sheep feared drowned after Scots river bursts banks
© Tim Scrivener More than 400 sheep are feared to have drowned after the River Nith burst its banks and flooded farmland in the Dumfries area of west Scotland.
Innovis, a leading supplier of sheep breeding technologies to the UK livestock industry, said it lost 40 tups in the flooding incident on 30 December.
But the company said it understood that more than 400 sheep grazing the land had drowned locally.
See also: Outlook 2023: Tight sheepmeat supplies set to support prices
In a statement posted on its Facebook and Twitter sites, Innovis said the river waters “came up” about two miles upstream from where the sheep had been grazing.
https://twitter.com/InnovisLtd/status/1609233598548254720
The company said the incident was “not the most uplifting post to finish 2022″, adding that “unfortunately, this is the reality of farming”.
“Our heartfelt sympathy to all the farmers out there facing these challenges, a tragic loss on top of an already tough winter. Fingers crossed for a better new year,” it added.
Responding to the post by Innovis on Twitter, Andrew Marchant, a beef, sheep and red deer farmer in west Scotland, said the flooding was “unbelievable”.
“Never seen the river rise as quick and aggressively as that, fair play to you for sharing. There are plenty others in the same situation locally,” he added.
One sheep farmer, who farms in the area, said: “The farmers down in Nith Valley have had a terrible time and all the homes in the village have been flooded.
“Our silage fields are like lochs. The roads are terrible and have all been broken up by the floodwater damage. One road is closed to get down to the hill.”
Nithsdale Police said several homes were flooded in the area and it worked with other emergency services to evacuate residents.
Highest river levels
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) issued a severe flood warning – the highest level of flood warning – for the River Nith in Dumfries on 30 December.
Sepa said intense rainfall had resulted in a “rapid and extreme rise” to the River Nith, which recorded its highest ever levels, higher than Storm Frank in 2015 and flooding in December 1982.
The agency said unsettled weather was forecast to continue across Scotland for the immediate future and it urged residents to follow advice and updates.
The Met Office said the wet weather was being caused by a strong jet stream pushing low pressure systems across the Atlantic and in the UK.
However, forecasters said the impact would be nowhere near as severe as the deadly winter storm that hit the US state of New York over Christmas.
Appeal after ‘worst ever’ sheep worrying incident in Kent
Police in Kent are appealing for witnesses after 27 sheep were found dead following a dog attack in a field in Sittingbourne.
The ewes, which were all in-lamb, were attacked between Christmas Eve and 1pm on Boxing Day at a location near Deerton Street, in Teynham. Residents reported hearing dogs barking in the area between 4pm and 5pm on Christmas Day.
Kent Police said it believed the attack was carried out by one dog but it could not rule out more dogs being involved.
PC Marc Pennicott of the Kent Police’s rural taskforce said: “This is a distressing incident which is possibly the worst livestock attack we have ever had.
“The farmer has not only suffered a financial loss due to this incident but animals have needlessly lost their lives.
“These dogs would have been covered in mud and returned home exhausted and we are committed to identifying their owners.
“Sheep targeted were pregnant with twins or triplets and the remaining livestock have also been left vulnerable to a further attack, so it is extremely important that we find who is responsible for these dogs as quickly as possible.”
Anyone with information is asked to call 01795 419 119, quoting reference 26-0510, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.