Six loose sheep turned a quiet Durham neighborhood into an unplanned barnyard on Tuesday, after the flock wandered into a backyard and had to be steered out by Durham County animal control. Officers ultimately found five white ewes and one black ram grazing in a yard on Duck Pond Court near Wake Forest Highway. The animals were safely reunited with their owner, and no injuries were reported.
How animal control rounded up the flock
To get the situation under control, animal control officers leaned on some creative corralling tactics, using improvised barriers like trash cans, pig boards and even cornhole boards to guide the sheep through neighboring yards and out toward Ganyard Farm Way. The group totaled six animals, and an officer leashed the black ram before helping the owner load the flock onto a trailer once the owner arrived, according to CBS17.
What the law says
Durham County's animal ordinances prohibit livestock from running at large and give animal control the authority to impound animals found on private property. Under the Durham County code, owners can face fines or other consequences if their livestock stray onto a neighbor's property.
Not the first wandering sheep
This is not Durham's first brush with a roaming ram. In 2013, a stray ram nicknamed "Bubba" roamed through local neighborhoods before being captured and rehomed, a case that showed just how quickly loose-livestock calls can draw a response, as reported by ABC11.
Officials said the animals in Tuesday's incident were reunited with their owner and the call ended without incident, according to CBS17. Animal control cleared the scene after the owner left with the flock.
