Broken nose: dispute between shepherdess and three men escalates

Created: 05/13/2022, 17:05

Shepherdess Martina Brandenburger repeatedly experiences conflicts with dog owners in the mining forest with her flock and herding dogs.

© Jens Riedel

A dispute between a shepherdess and three men escalates.

The woman breaks her nose, a man is bitten by a dog.

There are always conflicts.

Giessen - Life as a shepherd is dangerous - especially when the sheep to be tended are grazing in the mining forest.

Last week, a dispute between the shepherdess Martina Brandenburger and three men escalated to such an extent that the 46-year-old woman suffered a broken nose and one of the men suffered a bite from one of the shepherdess' three herding dogs.

"The dog protected me," she emphasizes, as reported by giessener-allgemeine.de.

The Wettenberg forestry office has commissioned the sheep farm to let around 200 animals graze around the mine forest in the district border area between Gießen and Linden in order to maintain the grassland areas of the nature reserve (NSG) and the flora-fauna habitat (FFH).

“Conflicts keep coming up,” says Holger Brusius from the forestry office, adding that the shepherdess was at her wits end because of the situation.

Gießen: Controversial discussion about off-leash dogs

The broken nose is a drastic but not typical case.

Because Brusius emphasizes that dogs that are not on a leash usually cause problems because they would run into the flock of sheep.

The shepherdess's three herding dogs, who are called Flora, Luna and Mohr, don't like that, after all it's their job to protect the free-roaming sheep.

In the past, some dogs have sustained injuries, which in turn has upset owners.

"The problem is particularly big in the areas close to the city," says Brusius, since there are a lot of dog owners with their four-legged friends.

On Wednesday (May 11) there was another dispute.

"I would wish that the dog owners would have the insight to put their dogs on a leash when they see the sheep and that they would give their dogs a certain berth around the sheep," says Martina Brandenburger.

And Holger Brusius points out the legal regulations: »In the nature reserve, dogs - apart from the herding dogs - must be on a leash and the paths may not be left.

The free right of access to the forest and unused areas does not apply there.

Meadows that are grazed by sheep may not be entered, even outside of nature reserves, as they are used areas.«

Shepherdess breaks her nose: "The problem is the people"

Sheep are often used as chewing lawnmowers because they can remove the grass from the meadows more gently than technical devices.

This offers advantages for the ecosystem, which becomes more species-rich as a result, says Brusius.

Finding shepherds who can do this job properly with their sheep is not that easy.

The representative of the forest office hopes to be able to sensitize residents and walkers to this topic.

"The problem isn't the dogs," Brusius emphasizes, "it's the people."

The shepherdess needed treatment for her broken nose.

She was also with the police, but did not file a complaint.

“But I still have pain, especially when the sun shines on my nose.

Then the nose can still start bleeding all of a sudden,” says Brandenburger.

(Christoph Hoffmann)

A woman in Gießen was recently injured by a dog bite.