Lucky this time, but probably not the next

LUCKY the lamb has survived being shot in the neck while on the Crowther farm in Greenfield

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A LAMB which was shot in the neck would have been skinned and butchered had it not escaped suspected thieves.

The lamb, appropriately named Lucky, was seen suffering from the gunshot wound on Hey Top, Greenfield, on July 11 by a resident who then informed owner Claire Crowther and she was able to track her down the next day.

The incident, which saw Lucky callously shot followed reports of people breaking into the fields and chasing sheep and lambs on the Friday before, breaking fences and leaving some of the sheep to run onto roads.

Claire, who works on Crowther Farm, Greenfield, with her father and two brothers, said the thief likely shot Lucky in the hope she would fall to the ground dead.

If that was the case she would have been skinned and butchered but she must have escaped, she said.

At first she thought it may have been caused by a dog, but as she cut away the bloodied wool Claire realised it was too clean for a dog bite and was likely done by a high powered rifle.

While Lucky escaped, it is difficult to tell how many have been taken in recent months with the farm receiving a phone call as far back as April saying one of their sheep had been found dead in Alexandra Park, Oldham.

While the rustlers often work under the cover of night, Claire is urging the community to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious as farmers will not usually be out at that time of night.

Claire said: "On Friday we got a phone call at about 12.30am about a dark pick up truck which was driving suspiciously and they broke the fence and the sheep had gone all over the road.

"On the Tuesday night I got a ring from Hey Top saying there is a lamb with a lot of blood around its neck. We thought it might be a dog but it is clearly a gun shot wound."

Claire went on to say that incidents involving sheep rustlers are becoming more frequent with an estimate of between 30 - 50 lambs missing this year alone.

"I think it was in April when we got a phone call saying our sheep had been found dead in Alexander Park, they knew it was ours because it had the tags on," she said. "People have been into the fields since then. There have been quite a few reports to us of cars and vans on the van lane. One of our neighbours had a random knock on her door from a group of people asking if she had a lamb for sale, but she said no and got the licence plate number of their car and reported it."

Claire said to find a lamb injured and fencing destroyed is incredibly frustrating.

She said: "At the moment Lucky is ok and we're keeping an eye on her."

She went on to thank the community and their neighbours who are helping to keep an eye on their land.

"There are a lot of neighbours and they are good, they keep us posted," Claire said. "There is a lot of ground to cover and you need people around the community to look out for you.

"We would like to raise awareness because people might see things happen and maybe think it is a farmer, but we won't be out at night, if people see something we just want to make sure they ring the police."