As the number of sheep being injured and killed by dogs across the country increases a new community organisation will launch on February 1 pledging to introduce measures which will help protect the National Flock – SheepWatch UK.

"No-one really knows how many sheep have been injured or killed by dogs," said Terena Plowright , founder of SheepWatch "it’s so hard to get exact figures but reports are coming in nearly daily from across the country and we have had enough."

SheepWatch UK is already highlighting the problem and is coming up with some radical new solutions to try and bring farmers and dog walkers together to protect the Nations flock.

"Dog walkers sometimes genuinely have no idea there are sheep in a field,’ said Terena, "and so we are asking farmers to put a notice at entrances to fields announcing that livestock is present, especially those with footpaths through them. This will then remove the excuse that walkers use – they did not know sheep were there. We can then actively pursue people for having a dog out of control in a field with sheep in it, even if it is not (yet) causing harm. We just ask that farmers remove the signs when they move the stock."

SheepWatch UK is working with farmers, the NFU, the police, the general public, dog walkers, and country parks to try and bring together a solution.

"It’s not good enough to believe your dog won’t chase sheep," said Doug Jones, Parish Councillor for Buriton in Hampshire, "all dogs love chasing and many bite or kill – it’s an inbuilt instinct. Everyone thinks their dog will be okay but all dogs can potentially be killers. Most people only find out when the dog has disappeared over the horizon. Our parish has had several attacks in the last few months and we are pulling together to aim to put an end to it by being part of SheepWatch UK and imploring people to keep their dogs on leads when anywhere near where there might be sheep."

"I am fed up with seeing injured or dead sheep," said Andrew Bray, farmer. "It’s horrendous for the animals and costly and emotionally upsetting for me and my family."

Andrew has had several attacks from dogs on his sheep in recent months and is now one of the founding group who are advising SheepWatch UK on a way forward.

"I need to be able to create a deterrent,’ he explained, "and fines may work better than threatening to shoot dogs. That could be a good way to go forward, linked to clear signs out in the fields. I’d also consider naming and shaming people via social media if I caught a dog amongst my sheep and had evidence of ownership," he added. "Many people on Facebook are already indicating lots of support for the SheepWatch idea."

Mandy has a dog which got into a field and chased some sheep.

"I just didn’t realise there were sheep in the field, she said."In this case some rams were in there, too, and my dog sensed them from quite a long distance away. I never thought that my dog would even chase sheep, let alone possibly harm them in any way. It just goes to show that dogs are potentially a big problem for sheep and that action needs to be taken, by all concerned, to help owners to take precautions’.

"We need to deal with this problem urgently," said Terena. "It is costing the farming community a huge sum of money and individual farmers are having to pick up the bill. We need to find out just how big this problem is so we can prove to the government that more needs to be done. We don’t have any funds but we do have the will to fight this. We have a temporary website page with a form for farmers to submit every dog attack whether it is chasing, biting or sheep being killed, it all adds up in financial terms. We are also releasing some signs that people can use or copy over the next couple of weeks, and we have a facebook page too where people can comment or add pictures of the chaos. We will find a way to stop this – this year!"