A MEDSTEAD farmer was dealt a sickening blow this week when dogs ran riot among his flock of sheep.

The attack, which was apparently unwitnessed, left 11 year-old ewes dead and two more badly injured.

It is believed that one or more dogs got into the field, above Goatacre Road, Medstead between 8 and 10-30 am on Tuesday morning.

They appeared to have chased the sheep for some time before killing them, leaving corpses and fleece spread all over the field.

Owner Peter Bradley of Goatacre Farm told The Herald that he felt sickened by the carnage, which he saw when he was called home from his full-time job as a farm-worker.

Some of the ewes had been felled from behind, while others had obviously been cornered, turned to face their attackers and been bitten in the face. The bodies were still warm, indicating that they had not been dead long.

A neighbour, Penny Aikenhead, was the first to notice the disaster when she went out to attend to horses in a nearby field at 10-30. Another horse owner, who had taken her animal out at 8 am, told the police that she was sure she would have noticed if it had happened before then.

The dead ewes, which were being raised as breeding and fattening stock, were not in lamb. They represent a tenth of the herd which Mr Bradley and his wife Judith have tended on their land as a part-time occupation for the past five years.

Fortunately a further 65 ewes, due to lamb this spring, are still on their winter pasture at Kilmeston.

"I was going to bring them up this weekend, but they will stay where they are until I am certain this will not happen again," said Mr Bradley.

Pc Mark Ingram from Alton police station said he thought that this was the first case of sheep savaging in the area for about five years.

He said that the owner of the dog or dogs would almost certainly been aware that they had been up to no good when they returned home.

"The dog would have a lot of blood on it, with evidence of fleece and bits of flesh and sinew about its body."

Prints left in the field show that at least one of the attackers had smallish paws, but the sheep appear to have been bitten by an animal with fairly large jaws.

There is no public footpath across or near the land. "They could have come from anywhere," said Mr Bradley.

Police photographer Mike Terrell, who had seen a lot of similar carnage when working in the downland sheep country of Sussex, described the savagery as a "classic domestic dog attack".

A wild predator would kill one sheep at a time, he said. "The dog has only learnt half the lesson. They know they were meant to hunt and kill, but don't know when to stop.

"It is likely that there would have been more than one dog on the loose, as they tend to encourage each other, although one could easily have done this on its own."

Mr Bradford was advised to keep a couple of the bitten heads in his freezer as it was possible that a suspect dog could be identified by its bite marks.

The two injured ewes had received penicillin injections and had their wounds sprayed by a vet. "I think they will probably recover," he said.

Anyone who saw a dog loose in the area, or anything else which might be connected with the incident, is asked to contact Pc Ingram at Alton police station, telephone 01420-82244.

The police are appealing to dog owners to keep their pets under control in the countryside, especially when they are near livestock.