A farming family in Co Tipperary say they have lost more than 70 sheep following a dog attack over Christmas.
The attack was discovered on 27 December when farmer Donal O'Donoghue went to check on his flock in Lorrha.
Nearly 50 sheep had been killed and another 20 had to be put down due to injury.
Gardaí are investigating the attack. They have attended the scene alongside the local dog warden, and enquires into the matter are ongoing.
Over the last few days a number of sheep that initially survived the attack have since died.
It follows another dog attack in Co Offaly last month in which 50 animals were killed. The two incidents are not believed to be related.
Chairman of the Irish Farmers Association Kevin Comiskey said ongoing dog attacks on sheep are outrageous.
"It's gone totally out of hand and is very serious," Mr Comiskey said.
"There will have to be an emergency meeting of the ministers with responsibility for dog laws to get enforcement in place.
"There has to be prosecutions and penalties in place to reflect the damage of these incidents.
"Dog owners should be brought to book," he said.
Mr Comiskey called for responsibility for dog licensing, microchipping and enforcement to be brought under the control of the Department of Agriculture, unlike the current position where the departments of Agriculture, Rural Affairs and Housing all have a role.
Nuala Gonzalez O'Donoghue described the scene as a "complete and utter massacre".
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, she said: "It was really a horror scene. My 17-year-old son said no one should ever see what he saw and I actually regret, in a way I didn't know what was happening at the time, or how bad it was, that he was let go to see it."
She described the situation that unfolded on the morning of 27 December.
"My husband got a frantic phone call from a man he rents land from about five or six miles away from here. He would normally rent land there every winter. The man rang and I heard him screaming into the phone 'oh my God, get down here'."
She said her husband rushed down and after a while he called for his two older sons to join him.
"They went down and it was a complete and utter massacre.
"There were sheep strewn dead everywhere.
"There were multiple sheep standing with their entire faces and ears ripped off.
"We couldn't understand how they could even be standing. It's like they were in a daze. They didn't run, they didn't move."
She said that it took two or three days to find all of the dead sheep on the land.
Ms Gonzalez O'Donoghue said that 50 sheep were found dead, more were injured and had to be put down, while others remain missing.
