Sunday, February 21, 2010

Police dog savages three sheep while hunting armed robbers

A police dog ran amok in a farmer’s field attacking and ­killing three sheep during a bungled manhunt. Police had been searching for armed robbers who had raided a farm before fleeing across fields.

Dogs were brought in to pick up their scent but the instinct of one overrode its training and instead it went after the sheep. The dog killed one almost instantly. Two others were later put down.

The drama unfolded at a farm in Buckland Newton, near Dorchester, in Dorset, when landowner Martin Perrett ­confronted four balaclava-clad raiders on his property. The 52-year-old claimed a shot was fired at his Range Rover, but he still rammed the gang’s getaway car into a hedge, forcing the men to flee on foot.

A helicopter and dog ­handlers were sent to the scene and it was during the ensuing chase that the sheep belonging to a ­neighbouring farmer were ­savaged.

Mr Perrett claimed the ­helicopter had at one point located the gang but lost them when it had to return to base because it ran out of fuel.

A Dorset Police spokesman said the errant dog “will undergo additional training to try to avoid any similar ­incidents in future”.

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