A soaking wet sheep was rescued after it was found tied up to a tree in a park in Brooklyn, and police don't have any idea what it was doing there.
According to Farm Sanctuary, the rescue group who adopted the animal today, the "dirty, overgrown, matted white" sheep was corralled by NYPD officers after someone reported finding him tethered to a tree in Coney Island Creek Park on Thursday around 9:45 p.m. He was initially taken to Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC) in Manhattan.
Farm Sanctuary’s Emergency Rescue Team, with help from frequent rescue partner, Tracey Stewart, picked up the sheep this morning. They took him to Cornell University’s Nemo Farm Animal Hospital for a full medical exam before heading to Farm Sanctuary’s 300-acre shelter for abused and neglected farm animals in Watkins Glen.
"Farm animals like this sheep do not belong in New York City, and until we stop viewing living, feeling animals as unfeeling commodities, they will continue to be commoditized and transported into the city, where they will suffer terrible stress and cruelty," said Farm Sanctuary National Shelter Director Susie Coston. "Science has shown that sheep, and all farm animals, are emotionally and cognitively complex individuals."
They add that this is at least the fifth incident involving a farm animal in NYC in the last week or so (and Stewart's second animal rescue this week as well), including a "loose lamb" who was seen darting along the Gowanus Expressway and a brown baby cow who was found running near the Major Deegan Expressway. Back in 2014, a wayward sheep was found roaming on the Metro-North tracks as well.
In the past, animal remains, including parts of goats, have been found around various NYC parks. Some of those incidents have been linked to Santeria rituals.
