Sheep hurt in sick crossbow attack

TARGETED . . . the wounded sheep

A HORRIFIED young shepherd has described how she found one of her family’s flock of 3,500 sheep badly wounded in a crossbow attack

Claire Crowther saw an arrow sticking out of a year-old ewe on land near Dovestone reservoir, Greenfield.

Claire (21) said: “I was sickened. The sheep had lost a lot of blood and was in terrible pain.”

She and her brother Christopher (24) removed the arrow and treated the wound before putting the sheep on an intensive course of antibiotics.

An expert believed the bolt could have been fired from a crossbow.

“It’s a devastating weapon to use against a defenceless animal,” said Claire who runs the sprawling moorland farm with her father and two brothers.

Her father Christopher (52), said: “This is a major problem these days. If this ewe had been killed it would most likely have been butchered and the meat sold on the black market.”