New legislation to tackle dog attacks on livestock

It is eye-opening to see the recent figures reported in Farmers Weekly which show that dog attacks on farm animals cost UK farmers an estimated £1.95 million in 2025, a 10% rise from the previous year.

With over half of dog owners surveyed admitting they let their dogs off the lead in the countryside, the risk to pregnant ewes and newborn lambs is very high, as well as other livestock. These attacks cause not only financial loss but emotional strain for farming families, many of whom experience repeated attacks each year.

Against this backdrop, the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Act 2025 has now come into force. This is the first major update to livestock-worrying laws in over 70 years and it aims to provide stronger and clearer enforcement tools and greater confidence for those working in rural communities.

What’s changing?

The new Act introduced several important reforms: 

• Unlimited fines for livestock worrying offences
• Enhanced police powers including the ability to seize and detain dogs, collect DNA evidence and intervene proactively where this is an ongoing risk
• Wider protection zones, extending offences to attacks which occur on roads and public rights of way
• Expanded definition of livestock, now covering species such as alpacas and llamas

These changes aim to give farmers reassurance that incidents will be taken seriously and to reduce the likelihood of repeated attacks.

Final thoughts

With lambing well underway and rural footfall typically increasing into spring, now is an important time for dog owners to understand their responsibilities. Keeping dogs on leads around livestock, even if they are usually well-behaved, remains the simplest and most effective way to prevent avoidable distress and loss. 

You can read the recent Farmers Weekly news article "Dog attacks on livestock cost farmers £1.95m in 2025".

And more about the new legislation on Unlimited fines for dog attacks on farm animals.

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