Police in the North were today hunting those responsible for savagely beating to death more than a dozen sheep and lambs at an isolated farm in Co Tyrone.
Eleven new-born lambs and four female sheep had their legs, backs or necks broken before being killed in a violent attack on the farm near the village of Donemana.
Another five animals suffered broken legs after being beaten with a spade or blunt object during the attack.
The Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has offered a reward to help catch the perpetrators, claiming the attack was the worst it had ever come across.
The charity's chief executive, Mr Stephen Philpott, said: "It was an absolutely savage and disgusting attack carried out by people with very few morals and absolutely no conscience.
"The cruelty inflicted on them is done to obviously make a statement or to obviously make a point that there's some other dispute or underlying problem behind this. The animals are just used almost like a rural punishment beating, for want of a better word".
Mr Brendan McLaughlin, the farmer who owned the flock of sheep, branded the attack as "cowardly" and said he felt sick when he discovered the scene of carnage yesterday. PA