A farmer from Wexford, who has been increasingly plagued by sheep worrying over the last number of years, has called for greater law enforcement and harsher punishments to be introduced for liable dog owners.

Between livestock losses, vet bills and fallen animal collections, Mattie White, a sheep and dairy farmer from Bannow, Co. Wexford, has suffered approximately €11,500 in damages resulting from dogs in the last 10 months, as a result of illegal trespassing on his land.

"We've lost somewhere in the region of 25 lambs in total, and seven or eight ewes as well. I lost the best Charolais cow I've ever had last September, who was in calf with a heifer at the time, she was around 850 kilos and easily worth the guts of €3000 alone," White told Agriland.

In addition to the financial losses, White, who is a vocal mental health activist within the farming community, has described the extreme emotional toll inflicted by these incidents, with many a sleepless night endured.

"I've seen some horrific scenes that would haunt you - lambs torn asunder in the field. The mental strain that people are put under is crazy and your mental state is like an elastic band, you can only pull it so far until it breaks," he said.

"We're not sleeping and we're not eating because of it."

White has described alleged threats made to his life on more than one occasion upon encountering trespassers on his land and has claimed that a lot of farmers tend to hesitate before raising the alarm, for fear of retaliation from offenders.

While White has reportedly notified the guards after every alleged incident of dog worrying, he has become increasingly demoralised with what he perceived to be an apathetic response from authorities investigating crimes of this nature.

"There is no law and order anymore in rural areas. This problem has become more and more systemic, but nothing is being done about it in my opinion. I've rang the guards in the past, and I've been told that there was no squad car to send out," he continued.

"The guards tell you to take note of their car registration numbers and get their names and addresses. But the vast majority are getting dropped off - they don't bring their cars and if they do, the registration plates are likely to be fake anyway.

"If you're lucky enough to catch them on your land, they won't give you their names or addresses either, they'll just say, 'my name is Johnny Conor of no fixed abode. They don't fear the guards because they've been allowed to get away with the same crimes for donkey years," he said.

White fears that the growing loss in confidence in rural crime enforcement will culminate in an increase in human causalities, as farmers will be forced into taking control of the situation by defending their property for themselves.

He believes there needs to be an enhanced garda presence in rural communities, with designated rural crime units set up to tackle these crimes, which in his opinion, would help reinstate more faith in the authorities.

He also advocated for the implementation of stricter regulations around dog ownership in the country, as well as the enforcement of harsher punishments for negligible dog owners found in breach of regulations.

This includes the introduction of greater fines, and the deployment of more dog wardens to conduct microchip inspections.

White said: "We need more dog wardens first of all, to go around and do inspections. If dogs aren't chipped, they should be taken off people, or fined five grand, end of story, never mind the measly €100 fine.

"Also, if somebody is going hunting on your land, they should have a copy of a written agreement, signed by both parties in front of a solicitor or a guard, on them at all times. I mean, you can't carry a gun without carrying your gun licence in your pocket, this should be no different."

White had some particularly choice words for what should happen to the dog owners found guilty of livestock worrying.

"As well as that, they should be made to report to a garda station on a monthly basis then thereafter. If the government is serious about sorting this out before somebody else gets killed, that's what needs to happen," White explained.

White, an avid dog lover, is also convinced that people's attitude towards dog ownership must change, with more consideration given towards the responsibilities that come with owning a dog, before the decision is taken to provide a home for one.

"I love dogs and I'm not against anyone having dogs. As someone who was born and reared on the farm, the last thing I want to see is an animal suffering or an animal being destroyed," he said.

"But dogs to me are like children, if you're going to have them, you must be responsible for them. That's all there is to it," he concluded.