On Wednesday Orange City Council tracked down the two dogs responsible for the attacks that killed around 20 animals.

The dogs responsible for the attacks are set to be destroyed.

However this will not provide comfort for the distraught students of Canobolas Rural Technology High School who have been left heartbroken.

Council spokesman Nick Redmond (left) described the scene that confronted council staff as “pretty rough”.

He confirmed the dogs that were responsible for the atrocity had not been properly controlled in their yards.

“This is a terrible example of what can happen when dogs aren’t secured properly,” he said.

While it is hard to know what sort of environment the dogs had come from there is an important lesson in this situation for all of us.

When we take on pet ownership we become responsible not only for that pet’s welfare but also the welfare of other animals and, in fact, people.

In this case things have ended badly for all involved.

The owner of the dogs surrendered them both on Wednesday afternoon to be put down.

Not only will the owners suffer the loss of their pets, they will also face the possibility of being slapped with some significant fines and they may even face court.

The school was the second to lose livestock in the past three months after James Sheahan Catholic High School lost one lambing ewe in June, with another two injured.

Sadly Orange residents Ken and Margaret Skelton also lost their goat and alpaca between Monday night and Tuesday afternoon.

It is not known if any of the incidents are connected.

What is known is the attacks are the result of unsupervised dogs roaming the streets.

As Mr Redmond said people should not underestimate how good dogs are at getting out under fences, over fences and through gaps in fences.

Let’s all make sure we take extra precautions when we secure our dogs to avoid more tragedies like these occurring.