POLICE are investigating after more than a dozen sheep was savaged by two dogs on farmland between Flintshire and Wrexham.

At least 10 of the animals are believed to have died as a result of the horrific attack, while others are now recovering from their injuries.

However, the owner of one smallholding involved says he does not bear any malice towards the owners of the dogs, one of which was shot by a farm worker as it cornered a sheep.

The drama unfolded in fields off the main road in Cymau on Sunday.

Robert Tilston, who owns the White House smallholding, said: “It was about 8am when a neighbour, who had been walking his dog in the nearby nature reserve, called at my house to say he had seen dogs chasing sheep nearby and that he thought some of them might have been killed.

“I phoned my neighbour who also keeps sheep near here to alert him to the problem.

“I dashed out and when I came up to my own fields I couldn’t believe what I saw. I had 12 sheep in the field ... and the dogs had got to nine of them.

“Seven died of their injuries and I’m now treating another two with injections for bites on their back and neck, hoping that they will recover.

“I know one of my neighbours had five or six attacked and may have lost some of them, and another neighbour had a sheep killed.”

Mr Tilston added: “A man who works for one of my neighbours came out with a gun and shot one of the dogs – a big brown animal – which was going for a sheep at the time.

“I think the other dog ran off.”

Mr Tilston added: “I estimate the incident will cost me up to £1,000 but although I was angry at the time, I have since calmed down and can think about it more clearly.

“I am a dog owner myself and I know that this is the kind of thing that can happen when dogs are on the loose.

“They start playing with sheep and chasing them, then the sheep run, the dogs catch them and then the sheep is bitten. Once the dog sees blood, it can’t leave the sheep alone and this sort of thing happens.

“The good part about this is that it highlights how good my neighbours are. Everyone has offered help and one small girl from the area has written to me to say how sad she was to hear that my sheep had been killed.”

A North Wales Police spokesman said officers were called to farmland at Cymau at about 10am on Sunday following a report that dogs were attacking sheep.

He added: “The incident is still under investigation.”