INCIDENTS involving dogs at the Grey Mare’s Tail reserve near Moffat are ‘totally preventable’ according to a farmer.
Discussions over the etiquette of dog owners visiting the reserve erupted over the weekend after a French bulldog named Flo went missing and was later found at the base of the 60 metre waterfall.
Her owner Amber Higginson, from Larkhall, was in the area with her partner Shaq and cousins for the first time on Sunday when her two-year-old dog ran away after being let off the lead.
Explaining what happened, Amber said: “We had gotten to the top of Grey Mare’s where you can go down to see the waterfalls and we had let Flo off the lead so she could have a wee look around. As we were coming back she saw a sheep. She’d walked by about five sheep on the way up and didn’t bother. I don’t know if it was because it was new surroundings or what, but she ran over to them, they started running and she ran and before we knew it she had gone over the side.”
After searching with the help of an off-duty mountain rescuer and the reserve ranger, Flo was found in between two rocks.
She was rescued by Shaq and was lucky to have only a scratch to the top of her head and a bump to the eye.
But Amber has described the ordeal as ‘traumatic’ and ‘horrendous’ and has faced online abuse following the incident.
She added: “Since it happened I’ve had people calling me an ‘irresponsible dog owner’ but we were not the only ones with their dog off the lead, it was just unfortunate that it happened to us.
“Hindsight is a great thing and now I will always keep her on the lead.
“I understand there are signs but it wasn’t until I got back down I saw two signs about keeping dogs on leads.
“I understand where the farmer is coming from; its his livestock and his livelihood, but all the comments from other people were not needed at all. It’s a lesson well learned and everybody makes mistakes in life and it happened to be our mistake that day.
“We are not irresponsible dog owners, she is very very well loved and looked after.
“I am sorry for letting my dog off the lead but I believe the signs have to be printed bigger.”
Flo’s misadventure is an all too familiar story for farmer Dougie Crew, who has grazed his sheep in the fields for three years.
In that time he has had countless loose dogs terrify his flock, and as lambing season gets underway he had some choice words for dog owners, saying: “Things are hard enough without dogs chasing the sheep.
“I was lucky that this time none of them were hurt or lost their lambs, but in the summer I lose any amount of sheep because people don’t keep dogs on a lead or they’re hit by cars because people are careless.
“I’ll be putting up signs reminding people to keep dogs on leads but there’s only so much you can do.
“It really was pure luck this time round, but it is not that hard to keep your dog on a lead, it’s all totally preventable.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the National Trust for Scotland, which maintains the Grey Mare’s Tail nature reserve, added: “We ask that all dogs are under proper control and in the most heavily visited areas of a property, we may ask that dogs are kept on a short lead of two metres or less, and in other areas that they are kept under proper control on a short lead or close at heel.
“There is signage at Grey Mare’s Tail about accessing the nature reserve responsibly with dogs, and this is increased during lambing season.”
