Not all farmers are jolly chaps and kind to their animals and some don't give a dam about the police and the law.
I could go into details but won't, last time I annoyed one who thought I had reported him for an offence which cost him thousands I was physically intimidated.

The horrible events of dogs being shot in the posts above seemed more to do with misfortune then negligent owners.
That said there are negligent owners who allow their dogs to run loose and all dog owners have a duty to keep their dogs under control at all times and should face penalties if they don't.

I live next door to a field full of sheep. It isn't unusual to go out there and find a dead lamb or Ewe, the work of foxes not dogs .
Crows also peck the eyes out of sheep making them easy targets for foxes.

Making assumptions here (sorry) but presuming he isn't shooting dogs that are under control on leads, so how can we possibly say he wasn't entirely within his rights protecting his flock ? Some farmers may be quicker than others getting a gun but I find it hard to condemn them when the result of them being slow can be very horrific for the sheep.

I do agree that if a dog is worrying sheep then the farmer has every right to shoot the dog and the person who is a fault is the owner/person looking after said dog

I don't know why anyone would be surprised at farmers being quick to shoot dogs that are worrying their sheep, after all, there's a percentage of them that shoot their own sheepdogs if they don't make the grade
I believe that as responsible dog owners, it is our duty to protect our dogs at all times, and if this means keeping them securely on lead and under control around livestock, then thats what we should do. I have no idea if mine would chase sheep (apart from Drift, who is a failed sheepdog and has no chase instinct whatsoever and who incidentally WAS going to be shot for not fulfilling his job title) My girls, i don't know and i would never want to find out the hard way
I do think that if they catch a dog worrying, or indeed mauling their flock, they are well within their right to shoot it, and shame on whoever is in charge of said dog for not keeping it safe.

Exactly the same fate befalls all the unfortunate hunting dogs here who turn out to be not very good for hunting. That or they are dumped out on the road somewhere.

Farmers these days are businessmen - not all kindly rosy cheeked jolly blokes in smocks sucking on a straw. And even if many do view their animals as just 'commodities to be traded on the market' doesn't mean they don't have the right to protect that 'property'. If their stock is their 'money' - losing any is the same to them as if someone came along and nicked my money out of my bank.

A recent article (from a borough council website) had this to say

A farmer shooting his own sheepdog for not doing his job properly? To shoot a strange dog for attacking his livestock is one thing and I'm not saying I agree with that....but shooting his own dog for not being fast enough or smart enough for whatever reason,how do they have the right to do that?What makes them any different from any other dog owner?

We see dogs from all walks of life PTS everyday so to be squeamish when a farmer does it really seems strange to me. OK he uses a gun and not an injection but would the stress our dogs go through going to the vet to be PTS really mean we are in anyway kinder than doing it with one single shot ?

Friends of mine in NZ - farming folk - said it is quite usual for people like them to see to the kindly putting down of their own dogs there when their time has come - usually with a single shot and that they wouldn't dream of taking the dog to a vet to have them do it.

This particular friend wrote the most beautiful poem as a memorial to his little dog after he had to put him down. He'd worked with him on his farm every day of his life.

It's one thing to have the compassion and courage to DECIDE when it's time to let your dog go but quite another in my view to be able to do the deed yourself.

I'm not squeamish!A farmer can shoot a dog and that's ok with with you?poster was referring to a sheepdog who was not doing his job properly,not a sick or dying dog A dog that has no other reason to be put to sleep other than the farmers belief in its incompetence.Its a working dog and he is a dog owner the same as the rest of us.I doubt any member on here would think its ok,for any reason to shoot their dog.Why should it be any different for him?Why do people accept that this happens...it's not ok
Yes in my opinion it is kinder to have a dog PTS at the vets.Really can't understand how you would think shooting a dog could be equally as kind

Because stressed dogs are unhappy dogs and a dog with it's owner on it's own land is not a stressed dog. We as I said see healthy dogs PTS in huge numbers it's rather strange to expect a farmer to be better than the rest of the population when it comes to keeping dogs alive if they no longer do the job he needs them to do.

Would I do it no of course not mine are kept going as long as they are happy but I am not so blind I cannot see what others do and I cannot see a single bullet as less kind than shaving the leg, and injecting a stressing dog at the vets.