Big dogs rather than big cats are thought to have been behind a series of fatal attacks on livestock in Pembrokeshire last year, according to Welsh Government documents.

Documents relating to the findings of big cat sightings and livestock killed in November last year reveal that experts believe dogs were the real culprits.

The documents have been published in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

Despite a number of reported sightings – including green eyes glowing in torch light, and strange animal noises heard at night – expert analysis has led to the conclusion that attacks in the east of the county were likely to have been made by a large dog.

Referring to a sheep killed at Prince’s Gate, the expert, whose name has been removed from the documents, said he “thought the flesh had been chewed off by smaller mouths than I might have expected of a big-jawed cat.”

He adds that there were no signs the sheep had been harried by a dog, but equally there were no indications of a typical cat attack either.

He also states that tracks found near the animals were dog tracks.

In January this year Pembrokeshire County Council public protection officer Michael Disney, a former police officer, said he came face-to-face with a big cat near Treffgarne.

He said he was “100% certain” the beast he encountered was a “puma or panther-like animal”.