Rangiora's rebel sheep lands behind bars after rose rampage
Ewe number 447 was collected from a South Belt paddock on Tuesday. Nobody on the street will comment on the record.
A ewe has spent a night in what a Rangiora resident described as "basically sheep remand" after being removed from a paddock off South Belt on Tuesday evening, in circumstances the neighbours are being conspicuously coy about.
The sheep, identifiable by yellow ear tags reading 447, was reportedly found on the wrong side of a boundary fence for the third time this month. What happened next depends entirely on which side of Ashley Street you live on.
"I'm not saying she did anything," said one neighbour, who asked to be identified only as Coralie. "I'm saying the roses were fine on Monday and by Tuesday they were not fine. You do the maths."
A second resident, contacted through her letterbox, said the whole thing was "a piss-take" and that 447 had been "set up" by a rival flock two paddocks over. She declined to elaborate on what a rival flock would gain from framing a single ewe, then closed the letterbox flap.
A spokesperson for the local rural constabulary confirmed a sheep had been "processed" and was being held "pending identification of the actual offender", which they conceded was likely also a sheep. Asked whether 447 had been charged, the spokesperson said: "She's been spoken to. Sternly."
447 was released back to the paddock on Wednesday morning and has since been photographed appearing to laugh. The roses remain, per Coralie, "not fine".
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Reader Letters
Trev_Hornby
Sounds like a set-up to me. Poor ewe.
couchgremlin
Lol.
Garry (Halswell)
Back in my day, we'd have just let the sheep wander about. No need for all this fuss! Sheep used to roam freely without getting blamed for every wilting flower. Anyone remembers the sheep spelling out words in the paddocks in '79? That's where the real magic happened!
dreadlocks69
Mate, those roses were rooted even before the sheep popped over for a nibble. Classic case of blame the easy target!
Woolly_Ken
Too much bloody fuss over a sheep. Next, they'll be setting up surveillance cameras for the hedgehogs!
ropeable_dave
Agreed, Ken! It's a complete piss-take, really. They'll go after the possums and magpies next? Can't trust any of the local wildlife now.
MumOf3_Riccarton
You lot are joking, right? This is a sheep! 447 didn't scarf down the roses maliciously. Probably just peckish. Ewes have a right to a snack, don't they?
Anna_Waimea
Dave, have you ever tried getting the council to clean up after possums? Good luck with that, mate!
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