Livestock farmers - unexplained sheep slaughter?
Discussion
Chap who rents some fields on our farm called us today, to say that one of his sheep appeared to have been slaughtered and gutted.
We went to take a look and it wasn't pretty - a ewe (which had two lambs) had been completely stripped of meat and only the guts remained. Looking at the remains, whoever did it was pretty handy with a knife and knew what they were doing.
The thing that's puzzling us, is that there was a black bin bag tied to the tree where the remains were. Could be innocent (as in they just tied the bags there to stop them blowing away) or it could be some sort of marker or signal? I just find it bizarre that whoever did it would come in on foot and professionally slaughter a single sheep in the middle of the night.
So, anyone any experience with something like this? Bizarre ritual? Religious festival? Hobo looking for a free meal? Whatever it is, I hope it's a one off.
Lovely pictures in spoiler:
We went to take a look and it wasn't pretty - a ewe (which had two lambs) had been completely stripped of meat and only the guts remained. Looking at the remains, whoever did it was pretty handy with a knife and knew what they were doing.
The thing that's puzzling us, is that there was a black bin bag tied to the tree where the remains were. Could be innocent (as in they just tied the bags there to stop them blowing away) or it could be some sort of marker or signal? I just find it bizarre that whoever did it would come in on foot and professionally slaughter a single sheep in the middle of the night.
So, anyone any experience with something like this? Bizarre ritual? Religious festival? Hobo looking for a free meal? Whatever it is, I hope it's a one off.
Lovely pictures in spoiler:
HowMuchLonger said:
DO NOT REVEAL SPOILER.
It is a sad tale, intriguing even, but that picture is pretty horrible.
I thought the spoiler wise so as not to cause distress to casual browsers. It is a sad tale, intriguing even, but that picture is pretty horrible.
Didn't smell too nice either. Pictures show the 'quality' of the butchering though - whoever did it would have had proper equipment to cut through bone and was obviously quite skilled with a knife. Not a ounce of meat left on it and only the fleece, feet and head remain.
Hopefully one of those 'one off' events and not a regular occurrence. I've heard of entire flocks been stolen in the middle of the night, but I've never heard of a single sheep being butchered in the field.
Edited by wiffmaster on Wednesday 11th May 19:20
Jasandjules said:
That certainly sounds strange.
Are there by any chance any new people in the area? Perhaps someone with not quite enough money to have good meat each week has decided to get some the hard way?
Are there by any chance any new people in the area? Perhaps someone with not quite enough money to have good meat each week has decided to get some the hard way?
bobr said:
I don't want to sound like the typical stereotypical a
hole, but have any "travellers" been in the area recently?
Was my immediate thought. No 'new people' to my knowledge. Being a typical Hertfordshire commuter belt town, you can bet that the local papers would have been all over any 'new people' who were causing a nuisance.hole, but have any "travellers" been in the area recently?*Disclaimer - not saying Jasandjules is alluding to the same group that bobr is!
i remember reading in the local paper some time ago about certain european imigrants going to carp ponds at night and catching the fish and gutting them on the bank then making off with the fish remains.
im surprised that this sheep slaughter has not happened more ofton,how long untill we hear of a cow found slaughtered?
mrs smokinv8
im surprised that this sheep slaughter has not happened more ofton,how long untill we hear of a cow found slaughtered?
mrs smokinv8
What the f!
In all my years of looking after sheep I've never seen (or hope to never see) anything like that happen to any of my livestock. Hope whoever it was gets caught. Its bad enough when a fox or illness takes one but for someone to do that to one must be terrible. Your friend has my sympathies.
!In all my years of looking after sheep I've never seen (or hope to never see) anything like that happen to any of my livestock. Hope whoever it was gets caught. Its bad enough when a fox or illness takes one but for someone to do that to one must be terrible. Your friend has my sympathies.
Police asked us to seal the black bin liner in a polythene bag and said they'd pop over tomorrow to look for prints. I imagine they'll be hard pressed to find any though.
That field is bordered by a well used footpath and a busy bypass - so the sheep are fairly visible. I suspect it was somebody driving along the bypass who saw the opportunity, parked up late at night and then walked up the footpath and hopped the fence (which is pretty tall and covered in barbed wire) and did the deed. Could have done the whole thing in 15 minutes or so and are probably miles away by now. Still, hopefully that means it was just a 'one off'.
That field is bordered by a well used footpath and a busy bypass - so the sheep are fairly visible. I suspect it was somebody driving along the bypass who saw the opportunity, parked up late at night and then walked up the footpath and hopped the fence (which is pretty tall and covered in barbed wire) and did the deed. Could have done the whole thing in 15 minutes or so and are probably miles away by now. Still, hopefully that means it was just a 'one off'.
bus pass said:
Not that unusual around here. Not common, but still the sort of thing that hear of every 2-3 years. Usually sheep, horses and goats, but I've never heard of them being gutted for meat, and such animal mutilations around here often result in religious symbols being carved into the dead livestock.
I know it shouldn't make a difference, but I'm sort of glad it was obviously taken for the meat. However wrong/immoral/illegal it is, you can just about understand somebody doing this to feed their family. If it was just done as some sort of religious/satanic/occult ritual, it would be slightly more disturbing. I guess I (marginally) prefer the idea of a meat thief having been on the farm, rather than a knife-wielding sadistic nutjob. Not in the UK but when I was in Fiji staying on a friends farm we had something similar. I can't remember exact details but the local hindus (I think) had a ritual or something and came to the farm at night and beheaded one of the goats and took the body away leaving just the head behind.
It had happened before too with exactly the same process. So maybe a religious ritual not just eastern europeans or our traveller friends?
It had happened before too with exactly the same process. So maybe a religious ritual not just eastern europeans or our traveller friends?
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