This is an urgent plea to all dog walkers to please ensure that you put your dogs on leads when walking through agricultural fields or Cuddington’s Allotments.  A turkey has been left mauled and critically injured after a dog attack on the Allotments today.  The injured bird was found with bite marks to its legs and chest more than 20m from the public footpath and close to its enclosure, indicating that the dog was not being kept under close control when in the field.  Even if your dog has not exhibited signs of livestock worrying, they must be kept under close control as per the Countryside Code.  Keeping your dog on a lead also sets an example to others and we are grateful to the majority of dog walkers who do observe the Code.

Public footpaths across fields are a right of access across the land, not a right to allow your dog to freely roam across the whole of a field.  If dogs are not close to you then they may discover a farm or wild animal that was not initially visible to you when you entered the space.  Unfortunately, we observe many dog walkers who do not follow the Countryside Code and if they are asked to do so they can be rude and aggressive.  Please note that worrying of livestock can be the simple act of a dog freely running across a field with no intent to injure but the stress of causing the farm animals to run away can cause harm, e.g. the loss of unborn lambs in pregnant ewes.  Calmly walking through fields with dogs under close control is the action of responsible dog owners.

Dogs are natural hunters, and should you find yourself in a situation where your dog has injured an animal you must report it as quickly as you can to avoid unnecessary suffering.  Unfortunately, in this case, our bird had been left to suffer, no attempt had been made to find an owner and the bird had to be dispatched several hours after the attack took place.

Last year, in Ford, 13 ewes and lambs were injured on a farm when a dog uncharacteristically attacked a flock.  In this instance, the dog owner went to great lengths to find the farmer and ensure that any suffering was not prolonged.  The dog owner was in shock and said that his dog had never exhibited this type of behaviour before, however, letting his dog roam off-lead had led to the situation arising.

It is an offence under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 to allow your dog to worry livestock, and under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to allow animals to suffer.  This incident has been reported to the Police, and although it is unlikely that the dog owner will be found it will provide valuable statistics on incidents of this nature.

Karen and Ben Clayton

National Sheep Association (NSA) and all its farmer-members want everyone to share in the iconic landscapes and beautiful countryside that sheep farming in the UK has played an integral role is creating and maintaining.

Farmers appreciate lots of people like their dog to enjoy the countryside with them, but since much of the UK’s rural landscape is maintained by grazing sheep there is always a strong chance you will encounter some while out with your dog.

This advice will help you and your pet have fun and safe days out without disrupting the important work of sheep farmers.  You should also read this advice if you are a dog owner living in or near a farming area, as escaped dogs can be a real problem for farmers.

Sheep are valuable assets and any harm to them harms a farmer’s livelihood.

It is every dog’s instinct to chase, even if they are usually obedient and good with other animals.

Chasing by dogs can do serious damage to sheep, even if the dog doesn’t catch them.  The stress of worrying by dogs can cause sheep to die and pregnant ewes to miscarry their lambs.

Sheep fleeing from dogs are often killed or seriously injured by their panicked attempts to escape, causing untold damage to fences and field boundaries in the process.

Dogs chasing ewes and lambs can cause mis-mothering issues, with lambs dying from starvation or hypothermia when they become separated from their mother and fail to find her again.

Dog bites can cause death in sheep or necessitate them being put down at a later date, or in less severe cases considerable veterinary bills and additional welfare issues as a result of flies being attracted to the blood and leading to a nasty health problem in sheep called ‘fly strike’.  Injuries to sheep can also delay the normal farming routine, be it the mating season or administration of vital medicines and vaccines.

It is an offence to allow a dog to worry sheep.  Worrying includes attacking or chasing sheep and, in some circumstances, farmers are legally entitled to shoot dogs if they are endangering their sheep.

It is vital that you keep your dog on the lead around livestock, even if you can usually trust it to come to call.  If you live in or near a farming area, you must make sure that your dog cannot escape from your property, as it may find its way onto land containing sheep.

Sue Jones
Police Community Support Officer C9830

Cuddington is blessed with many footpaths that enable us to access the beautiful countryside which surrounds the village, almost all of which is privately-owned. I say 'blessed', because having the right in law to use routes that penetrate every corner of England and Wales is unique in the World and a very great privilege. Many, but not all, land owners would prefer it if these rights of way did not exist as:

• They have a duty to keep them open and to mark the routes across cultivated land.
• Footpaths are perceived as invading their domains (occasionally quite dramatically, as in the case of Cuddington Mill).
• People using the footpaths do not always act considerately or responsibly.

My experience locally is that people are pretty well-behaved in not dropping litter or leaving gates open. We do, however, feel that we are at liberty to wander off the legitimate rights-of-way at will, and this has become a problem.

We are very fortunate that the arable fields to the north of Cuddington are managed by Waddesdon Estates as they are sympathetic to walkers and have Level 1 Environmental Stewardship status, which means that they encourage wildlife. They are also a very responsible land owner and manager and do try to do things properly, engaging with local communities where issues arise. The Waddesdon Farms Manager contacted your Parish Council saying that a problem was developing with people walking and riding on the wildlife strips that surround some of their fields, rather than using footpaths. We have now discussed this with him and agree that something needs to be done on both sides.

Wildlife, or conservation strips are developed around the edges of arable fields as reservoirs for wild flowers, insects and other wildlife. They are a major component of Environmental Stewardship that is intended to provide space for non-agricultural plants and animals to prosper, supporting biodiversity in the area. We have seen the benefit of this in the bee orchids that have started appearing on the footpath down to Winchendon Mill and in increased numbers and species of butterflies. If people regularly access these areas on foot, horse, cycle or vehicle, the soil becomes compacted, plants are crushed and wildlife is disturbed and it is damaging!

The strips around two fields in the Cuddington vicinity are being used so that compaction is becoming a problem:

• The field to the north of the 'muddy track' from Frog Lane to Ridgebarn Farm. There is a footpath that runs west-east through the middle of the field, but the wildlife strip around the top of the field is being accessed regularly instead.
• The field to the east of the sealed track from the Upper Green down to Nether Winchendon where people are cutting across the bottom of it to join the footpath that goes up to the little duck pond.

Waddesdon have asked that this stops, and that people try to stick to the footpaths. We pointed out that the footpath route across the first of these fields is not always marked well, and that it can be very muddy in wet weather. The Farms Manager has undertaken to make sure the footpaths across arable fields are clearly marked and will also install signs alerting people to the importance of not trespassing on the wildlife strips. The Estate will run a vehicle over the routes but are not prepared to undertake further compaction of the soil, but it should be pointed out that, if the footpath is used by everyone instead of the strips, it will become compacted by the many feet, as is happening to the strips.

Your cooperation and adherence to this request will be much appreciated, and will contribute to a richer countryside around our village.

Doug Kennedy
Cuddington Footpaths Working Group

The footpaths of Cuddington – its glory!

“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”  ~ Thoreau

We are very blessed in Cuddington with a variety of footpaths and bridleways.  We are sure that many of you enjoy them.  There are short and long walks for all ages which can continue into Chearsley, the Winchendons, Haddenham etc. Please contact us if you want any ideas for walks or look at the new Village website where there is a map and where we will post some ideas for walks and ask for yours. The footpaths and bridleways need to be regularly maintained – this is the responsibility of Bucks County Council and the landowners. As footpath checkers for the Ramblers’ Association, we have recently walked all the footpaths in Cuddington and Nether Winchendon and reported the problems to Bucks CC. They should be listed with the impending actions on the relevant website by the time you read this – we hope! - see article below for details and links. The Parish Council have been very helpful over the years and have also recently addressed some footpath issues – see their minutes. Please let us know of any problems you encounter and we can ensure they are reported to Bucks CC for action and co-ordinated on village basis.  As some of you do already, it is quite handy to carry a pair of secateurs to cut any minor growth or stamp it down as appropriate.    

Walking:  the most ancient exercise and still the best modern exercise.  ~Carrie Latet

Happy walking

Alan and Stella Marsh  292466