A FARMING family have been left distraught after a campaign of vandalism and attacks on animals has led to a sheep being garrotted.

A dog walker spotted a gang of youths wrestling the sheep to the ground in a field near Evenwood, County Durham, at about 8pm on Tuesday.

By the time she had alerted the animal’s owners, Jane Seagrave and Ben Stephenson, the five-year-old ewe had been strangled with a rope.

Last year, a lamb in the same field had its ears cut off and two swans in a nearby pond were shot dead, by someone using an air rifle.

Ms Seagrave, whose family has owned Checkerleazes Farm, which has more than 300 acres between West Auckland and Evenwood, for generations, said she was shocked by the brutality.

She said: “This is horrific.

We have been having a lot of problems recently with fences being damaged and gates deliberately left open so our stock can escape, but this is just horrible, it has really upset us.”

Ms Seagrave and her husband, Mr Stephenson, are champion cattle breeders, having won multiple awards for their Limousin cows and calves at agricultural shows across the country.

The field where the sheep was killed on Tuesday and the lamb mutilated last year is known locally as Pond Field and is not public land.

Ms Seagrave said: “We usually don’t mind people walking across our land, so long as they are being respectful, but this has disgusted us.”

The five-year-old mule, a Swaledale and Masham cross, gave birth to two lambs in the spring but Mr Stephenson said, thankfully, they are now old enough to survive without their mother.

He said: “This is not a particularly valuable animal, but that’s not the point. I just can’t understand how anyone can do this.”

The family said they were usually unwilling to come forward about such incidents for fear of reprisals, but said on this occasion they were repulsed into action.

PC Andy Hucker said it was a gruesome crime and those responsible would feel the full force of the law.

He said: “We would urge anyone in the area who may have seen something, no matter how inconsequential they may think it is, to contact us.

“This is a serious crime and I would especially appeal to animal lovers, who will be repulsed by this, to keep an eye out for incidents.”

With the dog walker saying those responsible were youths, PC Hucker urged parents to keep an eye on their children, especially during the summer holidays, which start next month.

He said: “I would urge parents to make sure they know where their kids are and what they are doing.”

PC Hucker said the crime was unusual, but that the area had also had problems with lamping, a method of hunting nocturnal animals using offroad vehicles and high-powered lights, and hay bale fires.

The dog walker left without giving her details and police are eager to speak to her.

Mark Gent, chief inspector for the RSPCA North-East, said it was an unusual case, but urged anyone with information to come forward.

He said: “To any normal person, this act would be barbaric and disturbing. I do not know what would motivate somebody to do something like this.”

Call Bishop Auckland police on 0345-60-60-365.