From Robyn Heap

Wednesday, 21 April 2010

Thank You to all the people who have come forward with evidence regarding their dogs that have been shot dead by this Farmer in the Cragg Vale area. This case is getting bigger and bigger. I would like to make an example of this person, that he cannot go around killing anything that moves and only through the Courts I can make this happen. We want to have his guns taken away before he makes the next step of shooting dead a human. For all those still hesitating. This person was boasting in a local pub that he had wished he had cut both dogs’ heads off and hung them up in his barn, as they was the biggest dogs he had ever “bagged”.

It could be your dog next or even your loved one. This man has to be stopped.

From Sutti N

Thursday, 22 April 2010

I have to congratulate you Robyn. It is great to see a person collect evidence then want to go through the long proccess of the courts. I hope you get justice.

From Robyn Heap

Thursday, 29 April 2010

Just an update on the shooting dead of my two Neapolitan Cattle dogs by what is known as a “Plastic” Farmer. A Plastic Farmer is a person who likes to think of themselves as real Farmers but in reality its all an image.

We have all met them, “get off my land, I have rights you know” etc, etc. They claim subsides from DEFRA for so called maintaining the land and to keep farming especially for animal welfare. The truth is that when you see one of these Plastics they are normally driving a brand new Land Rover which all the subsidy money is spent on that you and I through our taxes pay for.

We as real farmers did something about the milk price we was getting for our milk by turning it into cheese and making a dying Dairy farm profitable. The Plastic Farmer in question who “farms” at the top of Cragg Road and has a reputation of shoot first, disliked the fact that I got off my backside and did something with my farm.

On the night that my dogs went missing, he was tipped off by his son that I was out looking for my dogs, hence he knew whose dogs they belonged to, knew they was stock proof. Yet he went out in a snow storm hunting them. He shot them dead after calling them over with a sheep whistle (which being cattle dogs they were trained to this) he shot them at point blank range. Then him and another subsidy sponging Plastic hid their bodies. There was a witness to this, who tipped me off when he saw our ad in the Evening Courier.

We went round to see this Plastic who denied killing the dogs, then admitted to it, then refused to give me the bodies back, then threatened to shoot dead both myself and my husband. The Police have done nothing as per usual. The Plastic said both dogs were worrying, yet the swab tests that the Vets took off their mouths when we got the bodies back disputed this claim. There were no sheep that had been worried, there were no sheep that had been injured no evidence could be produced by the Plastic and most important the Plastic did not report the shootings to the Police in the 48 hours under law he had to. Why was this I wonder?

He knew whose dogs they belonged to. If he had nothing to hide why did he go about it this way? I eventually got my dogs’ bodies back after a real Farmer went round and demanded that the Plastic Farmer returned the dogs’ bodies back to his Farm. Both dogs are now buried on my Farm. Please keep the emails coming in, the more I can make the Courts aware that this Plastic is going around threatening walkers with shooting their dogs the more a picture I can paint for the Judge to make a Judgement that this Plastic will step over the line one day and shoot dead a person, and who will know? If I had not found out about my dogs I would still be out every day looking.

From Cath G

Thursday, 29 April 2010

Just read this (havent been on Hebweb for a while) looking at the date it was posted April would point maybe towards the start of lambing time. I am not judging on this issue but wondered if the dogs in question were under full control, for example on leads or maybe they were loose?

Was a person with them at the time? I have also check on google for these dogs and they look very big to me so maybe the farmer didnt feel he could approach them and catch them. I am certainly not taking sides, just wondered if maybe Robyn could put a full picture on here as to when it happened, where it happened, and the full circumstances of it happening.

There has been in the past on this forum about dogs being shot before for worrying sheep and poultry and I sometimes feel that people do not understand the devasation that dog worrying has on all livestock and the owners of the livestock concerned. I feel very strongly that any dog owners have the responsibilty to keep their dog or dogs under full control at all times so that livestock worrying does not happen at all.

From F Niger

Thursday, 29 April 2010

I have followed this thread with interest as we also live on the tops. Being so situated we see a lot of people coming past with their dogs. I would say 97% are off the lead, all year round, and this is so even now when there are lambs about. If challenged they always say their dog wouldn’t be a danger to the animals and they seem to think they have them under control. The point is they do not have control and any dog can be unpredictable as we see all the time from the news.

I have worked on farms locally and seen what happens to sheep when a dog runs in the field with them, it doesn’t even have to chase them to make them panic. They run through barbed wire fences and tear their throats and chests on the wire. They end up covered in blood, with wire still in their fleece and collapsing though exhaustion (even losing their lambs sometimes). The farmer concerned at that time also used to shoot the dogs if he caught them at it. People somehow don’t seem to see farming as a business - more like someone’s maintaining the landscape for them and their dogs to wander through anywhere at will.

I am not judging what happened in this case but I do think it is unfair to make up derogatory nicknames for this guy whoever he is as a way of further doing him down. If the guy is farming in any way it’s worthwhile, we have lost too many locally - and - just because he is legally protecting his stock doesn’t mean he would go on to shoot a person does it?

From Robyn Heap

Friday, 30 April 2010

Hi, to everyone who has contacted me and left their comments on this Forum. The Shooting happened at 11pm on the 4th of January 2010. To paint a clearer picture. We are Dairy Farmers, we could not and would not have stock worriers. Those dogs were big enough to pull a cow down if they were that way inclined. I had both dogs trained up to work Cattle in particular Bulls. Cows do not like anything fast whizzing past them and to be honest both dogs were fat and lazy. The lad who trained the dogs up did indeed try to work them to sheep to see if they would work them. He tried his best but neither dog was interested in working sheep as sheep are too fast. I use to keep sheep a long time ago but due to sheep worrying and actually seeing a dog ripped a sheep apart I have never kept sheep since. Our farm is surrounded by sheep and cattle.

On that night I let both dogs out of the stable for a run around in my yard. It was snowing and a blizzard started. I turned my back for less than a minute and both dogs had gone. Straight away I walked up to one of our fields and found some tracks but the snow was covering these fast. We search the hillside, shouting and blowing a sheep whistle (the dogs were trained to this) At about 9:30pm we droved around to the Cragg Vale side of the hill, knocking on doors, asking people to look out for the dogs and reassuring them their stock was safe.

There was three people involved with the killings and the cover up. One of these who I spoke to reassured me that he would look out for the dogs and ring me straight away. He could see I was crying and really upset. We knocked on a few more doors but the snow was getting worse. Another person who was involved promised me he would get them in for me. I told both these people the dogs would come to a sheep whistle. The next day I rang the authorities, dogs homes and continued my search on horse back. I got an ad in the paper by the Saturday reporting the dogs missing. Every day we was out looking and checking dogs’ homes going as far as Doncaster and Manchester.

We put a reward up of a £1,000 for the dogs. Then 10 days after they had gone missing we was told by someone who had seen our missing ad in the paper what had happened. I was horrified and it broke my heart. One of these people who promised to contact me if they saw the dogs rang his father up, who in a snow storm went out and hunted the dogs. He called the dogs over with his sheep whistle, the dogs ran to the sound of his Land Rover (we have a Land Rover and they probably thought it was us) He then shot them both at point blank range in the head. The other “good neighbour” helped this individual move the bodies and hide them.

We went around to see this person who shot my dogs, he denied it, then admitted to it, then refused to give me my dogs’ bodies back so I could bury them. Then he threatened to do the same to us what he did to the dogs, ie shoot us.

I got the Police involved and it is still going on with them. I did get my dogs back for burial on our farm as another farmer “asked” this individual give them back.

One of the Neapolitans was given to me by a gentleman who was dying of Cancer. The other one was born here. Up until that night the dogs had never left the farm, they was never allowed to roam as they was working dogs and here to do a job, but I loved them dogs to bits and even if they was mongrels I would have still put up a £1,000 to get them back. All these people who was involved in the death and cover up of my dogs knew that I was out everyday looking for them, whilst they made fun of me. This person shot them, knowing who they belonged to, knew they was stock proof and I had never met any of these people before up until that night.

He told the Police they was worrying. Under the law he had 48 hours to report the shootings to the Police, he did not.

He could not produce evidence to the Police ie the dead sheep.

He never got a Vet out to check his sheep as he told the Police some of his sheep were limping.

He knew who the dogs belonged to. He never came around to see me or ring me up to tell me about these so called worryings. I am insured, if he could have proved to me the dogs had been worrying I would have paid him for the damage and accepted what he had done but he did not. He never reported the Killings to the Police, why?

He has all along tried to cover this up as he cannot justify the killing of the dogs. I have been doing quite a bit of digging on this person and he has been killing for years under the guise of sheep worrying. He shot a dog in the middle of the road two years ago, someone witnessed it and he had his guns taken away. Because this person did not see him pull the trigger he got off and got his guns back. Yes this is true or I would not be putting this on here.

I would like you all to make your own minds up. What he did was unspeakable and it is only a matter of time before he steps over the line and shoots a human.

From Steve T

Friday, 4 June 2010

I’ve just come accross this story and in light of news from Cumbria, I’d like to think that this particular story in Cragg Vale has been resolved. More importantly I’d like to know what the Police’s take on it is. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

From Graham Barker

Friday, 4 June 2010

Robyn - What’s the latest on this? In view of recent events, the police ought to be taking a very keen interest in any unusually trigger-happy gun owner.

On a wider point, it would be interesting to know how many people locally have gun licences, and why. Does anyone know if that information is available anywhere? Re Cumbria, it surprised me (as it no doubt did many others) that someone with no obvious need for a lethal firearm could legally own at least two.

From Claire M

Saturday, 5 June 2010

Robyn you poor thing. My heart goes out to you. It’s a sickening and upsetting story. I hope you get justice. Please let us know the result of it all.

Also I agree with the last two posts. In light of the Cumbria shootings and my own awful experience of a disturbed man stabbing pupils at my school, what are the police doing about this farmer with a history of being premeditated with little respect for his neighbours or animals???

It shouldn’t take the shooting of some-one in our area for action to be taken, preventative or proactive.

From Robyn Heap

Monday, 21 June 2010

Hi, to everyone who has posted and have got in touch with me over the brutal killings of my two Neapolitan Mastiffs.

We have had a major break through.

First of all a very important witness has come forward to give evidence to the Police, the Home Office and the Independent Police Complaints Commission. We are waiting at the moment for the outcome.

The second major break through is that the Independent Police Complaints Commission has “Upheld” my complaint regarding the way the Police have handled this case.

The Police have fitted us with a “Panic Button” in case this person “flips” and comes over to shoot us.

You may ask yourself. Would it not be prudent to take this persons weapons off him?'

I have also got in contact with the Home office regarding issuing Fire Arms Certificates to a 78 year old man who hates everyone.

We have been given a Saint Bernard x Mastiff called Molly and a French Mastiff. Both have settled in and are now being trained up to work the Cows. They will never replace my “Lost Boys” and the hurt will always be there.

I hope soon will will get Justice for what this person has not only done to myself but to others as well.