Horrified is the only way I can describe how I felt after reading a report that thieves cut off the legs of 10 sheep while they were still alive.

The horrific incident took place in Stockport. The butchered sheep, including several pregnant ewes, were found dead with their back legs removed at the hip. You’d think this would be an isolated incident, but sadly not. In the very same week, here in Cumbria, a very similar incident has taken place. Two dead lambs were dismembered, leaving only their carcasses. A third lamb was found barely alive and a fourth, which had been shot in the ear, has survived at a farm in Ravenglass. What on Earth is going on?

In both these cases it looks as if professionals have butchered the lambs as the meat had been taken off in a surgical manner and in neat cuts.

Sheep rustling is bad enough, but these two cases are nothing short of disturbing. So where is the public outcry about it? News stories such as this should be given more press coverage. I heard a one minute news story at the end of the local evening news which I find disgraceful. The media have a massive influence and we really need to change attitudes in society about the suffering of animals that feel pain just as humans do.

And you also have to ask the question, what does the RSPCA think and do they plan to help these poor farmers out? Perhaps some celebrity endorsement to raise the profile of this crime is what’s needed - I get the impression that the RSPCA would be best placed to do that.

Perhaps if the RSPCA now put its full weight behind ending the sadistic slaughtering of defenceless lambs in our fields, farmers could believe, once more, in the many positive attributes of a once national treasure. In amongst these shocking episodes is a chance of redemption. Let’s hope the RSPCA grasp it with both hands.