An Aberdeen man has been fined after his Siberian Huskies escaped during the night and killed a number of lambs.
Scott Forsyth, 45, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted owning two dogs that worried livestock at a farm near Bucksburn.
It was stated that the Siberian Huskies had been allowed to escape through a side door of Forsyth’s house and were found by a farmer standing over dead and bloodied lambs the following morning.
As a result of the deadly attack, one of the dogs was rehomed at a specialist dog training centre in Moray.
Numerous dead and wounded sheep and lambs found
Fiscal depute Georgia Laird told the court that at around 9am on January 4 last year at Holmhead Farm, Aberdeen, the farmer was walking across his yard when he saw a lamb “covered in blood around its neck and face area”.
Due to concern for the safety of his livestock, he inspected his shed, she stated.
“The accused then appeared and said that he had lost his dogs at which point the farmer told him about the bloodied lamb and went to inspect his stock,” Ms Laird added.
The farmer got into a vehicle and drove until he found four dead and injured sheep – he then saw two Husky dogs attacking the dead animals.
Choosing not to approach the dogs, he drove back to his farmhouse where Forsyth was waiting and picked him up and took him to the scene where he called his dogs into the trailer to defuse the situation.
Forsyth – who the farmer knew prior to this incident as someone who lived nearby – expressed his disbelief that this had happened and apologised repeatedly.
As they drove back to the farm, they found a further two bloody and wounded lambs.
The total value of the dead livestock was valued at £1,500.
In the dock, Forsyth pleaded guilty to one charge of allowing his dogs to worry lambs and sheep on agricultural land.
‘He was very distressed by this’
Defence solicitor Mike Monro told the court that his client had repaid the farmer £1,000 in cash and done some repair work around the farmyard to the tune of £500.
Mr Monro also went on to explain that the dogs had managed to escape during the night through a side door of Forsyth’s house.
“That door was not properly closed by the accused and he got up in the early hours of the morning to find the dogs were not there,” the solicitor said.
“Mr Forsyth had not kept them under control, and they had run off – when he discovered where they were and what they had been doing he was very distressed by this.
“He was very upset by this and is well aware how serous this matter is.”
Mr Monro added that one of the dogs – which he referred to as “the ringleader” of the pair – had been taken to a dog training school by Forsyth where it had been handed over to those who worked there.
Sheriff Ian Wallace fined Forsyth, of Kepplehills Drive, Aberdeen, a total of £640.
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