Remarkables Station farm manager John Saunders called the Queenstown police on Wednesday after he found six of his year-old hoggets had been attacked by what he suspects was a dog from neighbouring Jacks Point.
Of the six Perendale Romney hoggets, one was found mauled to death, three were wounded to the point Mr Saunders had to put them down and two suffered facial injuries.
"I've seen dog wounds before.
"Some of them had half the sides of their faces torn right off."
The Jacks Point settlement was up to 200m from the paddock where the sheep were found, but there was no proof a resident dog was responsible.
"It would have to be one of the Jacks Point residents or people who have moved into the area and are used to letting dogs roam night and day."
Although Mr Saunders did not want any bad publicity for Jack's Point, he said it was important for dog owners to "be held responsible".
"They're very woolly sheep so the dog would have to go for the face.
"To find those sorts of injuries is pretty horrific.
"Their faces were torn off, that's probably what gets you the most."
Upon finding the wounded and dead sheep, Mr Saunders moved the mob of 850 to a paddock across the road, further from the settlement, and has since not had a repeat of the attack.
Farm owner Dick Jardine said a similar incident had happened several years ago when two town dogs from Kelvin Heights had mauled 26 sheep in one night.
Mr Jardine destroyed the dogs when they were caught on his property.
"No farmer likes to shoot a dog either," Mr Saunders said.
Although he had informed police of the incident, which happened between Sunday and Tuesday nights, they cannot prosecute without a knowing the dog responsible.
Lakes Environmental manager, regulatory and corporate, Lee Webster said a property owner was entitled to destroy an animal on their property if it had been causing damage or was likely to cause damage.
Other options for farmers included setting up baited dog traps to catch the culprit or reporting incidents to the dog control department.
Once a dog is found to be guilty, the dog control department can impound it and determine whether it needs to be destroyed and the owners prosecuted.
An owner of an attacking dog can incur a fine of up to $3000 and also be disqualified from owning another dog, according to the Dog Control Act 2006.
Mr Webster said farmers around Queenstown did occasionally get town dogs trespassing and sometimes attacking animals.
The last incident was reported on a Hunter Rd farm near Coronet Peak at the beginning of the year.
