Dog owner jailed after sheep worrying at Hilliclay
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A Caithness man whose dogs worried sheep has been jailed for five months.
Alexander Fraser (30) admitted to being responsible for two dogs that attacked sheep on land at Anavah House, Hilliclay, between January and April 2023. The dogs were shot by the farmer who owned the sheep, Wick Sheriff Court was told on Wednesday.
Fraser, of Burnbraes Road, Weydale, also pleaded guilty to having failed to look after other dogs he owned and was given a lifetime animal ban.
Turning to the care of the dogs, fiscal depute Grant McLennan said that the farmer became aware of a video circulating on social media that showed Fraser feeding the carcasses of the dogs, shot, to other dogs he owned. Police seized the video and they began an investigation along with the SSPCA.
They searched Fraser's property and found conditions described by Sheriff Neil Wilson as “dreadful”. These centred on a lack of proper bedding and insufficient food and water, and the accused was arrested.
Solicitor Graeme Cunningham said that Fraser no longer kept dogs.
Sheriff Wilson told the accused that he “clearly had no ability or interest” in the welfare of animals and added: “I can't imagine the suffering you caused them.”
The sheriff added: “I can see no alternative to a prison sentence.”
