Urn Burial Book

I must have first read this about twenty-four years ago and not thought of it since until a half-remembered scene sprung into my mind a few weeks ago. Google and the search term 'shepherd abducted cats and dogs aliens' revealed the book to be Urn Burial, which I must have consumed as I bulldozed my way through most of Robert Westall's works as a ten-year-old.
The strong characterisation that I remember being a feature of Westall's shines through, but sadly I think there must have been a reason why the young-me largely forgot this one as it's a bit patchy, with some heavy-handed exposition.