Stock owner asks, 'when will dog attacks end?'

Farmers Denise and Colin Davis have once again had their stock targeted by roaming dogs. Photo / File

A Hawke's Bay woman is at her wits end after discovering another one of her sheep fighting for its life after a vicious dog attack.

Denise Davis had two sheep attacked on leased property at Carrick Rd in Twyford on Wednesday. She is currently nursing one in her home, while the other had to be put down.

The barely alive lamb was missing its jaw, her throat completely ripped, barely breathing, weakly bleating between shortened breaths until she was finally put out of her misery.

Davis has now lost about 125 sheep to these ongoing dog attacks, with no one coming forward to show any sign of responsibility for the latest bloodied attack on her livestock.

"I've been talking to the animal control officer and we're pretty sure that it would have been somebody walking their dog that attacked our sheep and they would have called it off. There's CCTV cameras near the walkway by the river, so we're trying to access this footage so we can take this further."

Davis said it felt like she was "banging her head against a brick wall" when it came to the constant attacks and just wanted people to take responsibility for their dogs.

"When will this end? People just need to put their hands up and take responsibility because this dog would have been covered in blood. It was a very vicious attack because it tore its throat and bit off its bottom lip."

Davis encouraged residents to report any sightings of roaming dogs to the Hastings District Council.

"I know it's just a small step, but the message needs to get through that people shouldn't let their dogs roam because that's how things like this happen."

Hastings District Council regulatory solutions manager John Payne confirmed that the attacks had been reported.

"We have had patrols out in the early hours of the mornings but no dogs identified so far."

Payne said the council currently have eight summary prosecutions pending (six offenders) in relation to the past attacks.