A DAIRY farm in Purton is warning dog owners to clean up their act after several cows miscarried as a result of contracting the Neospora parasite.

Dora’s Dairy, owned by Jon Cook and Sara Brookes, has lost six calves this year after their mothers aborted half way through pregnancy and have had to put four cows down after it was confirmed they were infected.

Neospora is carried by dogs and transmitted though their faeces. It has a well-documented link to spontaneous abortions when contracted by cows.

Sara said: “It’s quite distressing for them. Toffee the heifer who lost a calf to it recently was stood over her four hours.

“Because you put a lot of time into making sure the cows are healthy, it’s quite difficult to deal with.

“She should have had four calves now. We persevere and keep going but that’s a huge cost to a small farm.”

The farm has around 60 cows that graze on fields around Purton criss-crossed with footpaths used by dog walkers. The farmers say they become littered with dog mess.

Jon added: “Those cows are no longer viable, which is heart breaking when some of them aren’t that old.

“They’ve all got names and characters, and it hurts. It’s more like a petting zoo than a farm.

“We seem to have a real problem in Purton. We’ve got some fields behind Bradon Forest School and it’s incredible how many people don’t bother picking it up.

“There’s one place that’s actually been fenced off by the land owner because it’s got so bad.”

Farm vet Alex Mcpherson, from Drove Veterinary hospital, added: “Once the cow is infected, she remains infected for life and goes on to have quite a few abortions. It’s so prevalent, 10 per cent of all abortions in UK cattle is because of Neospora. There’s no treatment or vaccine, yet it’s probably our biggest abortion risk.

“It’s such an easy thing, stop your dog from coming into contact with any infected material in the first place, then clean up the poo. Simple.”