I didn't tell you this story when it happened a few weeks ago. It's a bit gruesome, so be prepared. You know how I hate to see fly tipping, that's rubbish dumped anywhere where it shouldn't be. I look in the bags to check that it isn't puppies or kittens, or any other live animals, just in case I can save them. I also look for anything that could be useful to someone else, I have been known to take things home with me, or go back later in my car to pick something up if it is too heavy to carry.
I spotted two black bin bags half hidden behind a tree on the edge of the wood. I opened the top of one of them, it wasn't tied very tightly. The putrid smell coming from it hit me as I tried to work out what was inside. At first glance it looked like a dead animal, perhaps a large dog. I have a photograph, I won't put it on here.
I tried to open the second bag but it was double bagged and I didn't want to get too close, so I gave up, presuming that the contents would be the same as the first one. Luckily I had gloves on. When I got home I reported what I found. Council workers went to pick them up.
It turns out they were dead sheep. That's all I was told. The police were informed. Although the bags were heavy I think it was just the fleece and possibly the head and legs that were left. They had possibly been butchered for meat.
It was horrible to find them, but I am not surprised. Were they stolen live from a field and taken elsewhere for slaughter, or were they killed in the field?
Everything is at risk of theft these days. All I can say is that the moral fibre of the human race is in decline. There has always been an element of crime, most of it we don't get to hear about, but now we have the internet it appears to be accelerating.
I think I might go out today, if I can get my arse into gear. Thanks for popping in.
Toodle pip. ilona
People - gangs - often professional ones when it's done on a large scale - come out from the cities to the countryside and kill and butcher sheep - usually in the field. Needless to say, many sheep are grazing remotely from the farm, and vehicles out of earshot of the farmer.
ReplyDeleteThe ones you found were almost certainly killed for meat and presumably to fill someone's freezer rather than on a commercial basis. Surprised they bothered to bag up the leftovers. I don't suppose the Police will find out who did it. If you Google Gangs Killing Sheep you'll see how widespread it is.
That's a horrible thing to find, so distressing for you. I know this has been happening for a long time, long before Covid hit. As Bovey Belle says, people come from cities to kill the sheep in the field and no one sees or hears them. Despicable people doing despicable things.
ReplyDeleteThis happened to a colleague of mine many years ago, she lived next door to a pub, her garden was next to the car park. A bin bag full of sheep remains were dumped in her hedges. She was very upset.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago there was a spate of them in Northamptonshire/Oxford area. The perpetrators were eventually caught.
Its horrible isnt it.
What a horrible thing for you to find Ilona, I can imagine how it left you feeling. Can't bear(bare?) to think of the suffering.
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry that you had to see that Ilona. It must have been a dreadful shock and really upsetting.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely awful!
ReplyDeleteHow horrible for you, but thanks for posting this. I knew live sheep were being taken but had no idea about this.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, Sussex