A DOG owner whose pet killed a sheep has been told he is fortunate the husky/labrador cross was fortunate not to be ordered to be destroyed.

Fifty-one-year-old Adam Shanks from Walkerburn pleaded guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court to being the owner of a dog which caused death and injury to sheep at Glentress earlier this year.

Fiona Hamilton, prosecuting, said the accused had notified his partner he had lost his dog and a search began.

A witness discovered a dog with a similar description that had blood on its muzzle while the sheep in the field were at the other end after running away.

The farmer got hold of the dog and waited with Shanks for the police to arrive.

The cost of one dead sheep and the vet bill for two other injured sheep was £624, which Shanks had subsequently paid.

Shanks, who works as a chef in Edinburgh, said he had been told the dog must be kept on a lead from now on.

Sheriff Peter Paterson said if Shanks had been charged under different legislation, a dog destruction order could have been imposed.

Instead Shanks pleaded guilty to a charge under section one of the Dogs Protection of Livestock Act 1953 which only has a fine as a penalty.

Shanks was fined £100.