Dog owners were today urged to keep their pets under supervision after two strays killed 50 sheep in south Armagh.
The Ulster Farmer's Union (UFU) said the sheep worrying incident was one of the worst in living memory.
John Harvey was confronted with the slaughter at his farm near Crossmaglen on Saturday morning. Mr Harvey said: "It was just carnage everywhere. What they did not kill they drowned."
The farmer forecast it would cost him stg£5,000 to replace the flock and said he hoped the incident would mark a turning point.
"I would encourage people to keep their pets under control. Stray dogs have always been a problem but now it has got out of control."
Most of the sheep died after being bitten by the dogs but some drowned trying to escape. A neighbour shot one of the strays dead but the other ran off and is believed to have paired up with a Great Dane.
The incident at Drumbally Farm followed a fatal attack on two sheep at a neighbouring property the previous evening.
UFU Deputy President Graham Furey said sheep worrying had far-reaching consequences. "The sheep are killed, injured or traumatised, the farmer very often bears the serious financial cost and if the dogs are identified they may be destroyed and the owners pursued for the cost of the incident," he said.
The appeal comes a day after a police officer shot two pit bull terriers dead in west Belfast after they fatally mauled a collie.