Dogs Attack Sheep in Switzerland After Car Damages Pasture Fence
In La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, three unleashed dogs injured about ten sheep after a driver damaged the pasture fence and did not report it. Police are still looking for the dogs' owners.
In La Chaux-de-Fonds, a town in the Jura highlands in Switzerland's canton of Neuchâtel, three unleashed dogs got into a sheep pasture and attacked the animals. About ten sheep were injured, some of them seriously. The dogs' owners left the scene without telling anyone, and police are still trying to identify them. The case has caused outrage among farmers.
What happened
According to the Neuchâtel cantonal police, a female driver damaged a sheep enclosure fence at Rue de la Croix-Fédérale 33 while manoeuvring early on Saturday, 24 October. Police say she initially drove off without reporting the damage. She contacted the enclosure's owners only on Monday morning.
On Saturday afternoon, three dogs without leashes got into the pasture through the damaged fence and attacked the sheep there. The injured animals had to be treated by a veterinarian.
Investigation
Police have opened an investigation to establish the circumstances of the incident and identify the dogs' owners. Hopes rest on surveillance camera footage that recorded the attack; the material is available to investigators.
Police are asking witnesses, or anyone with information about the dogs or their owners, to get in touch. The appeal also extends to the owners themselves, whom police have asked to contact officers.
