Minnesota sheep on the lam in Zumbrota evades police but not a cowboy’s lasso

ZUMBROTA, Minn. — The sheep wandered into a small town Monday night looking for a good time.

In fact, she had such a good time, she even evaded two police officers and hung around until Tuesday afternoon, when a couple of cowboys — armed with a lasso and a mighty bear-tackle — ended her mini-vacation from the farm. It’s not a children’s movie, but the actual events in Zumbrota, Minn., were captured on a police body camera earlier this week.

According to video the Zumbrota Police Department posted to Facebook, two officers were dispatched to a residence Monday evening to see about a sheep on the lam. After approaching the sheep at a doorway, the skittish animal fled on hoof.

Next, a body camera shows the two officers, one with a movable fence in hand, trying to corral the sheep before the animal ran across the grassy backyard and lunged through a backyard fence.

“Sheep — 1, ZPD — 0,″ the video caption read.

On Tuesday, a second video went up after police called in reinforcement from the Central Livestock–Zumbrota sale barn in town. The loose sheep, spotted on a stoop, is unawares while a man with a cowboy hat and serious-looking lasso, plus a couple other assistants with looks of grim determination, arrive to ensnare the furry ungulate.

The animal again tried escaping, leaping and barging like a running back through the defensive line, only to knock down one pursuer before a couple more tackled her. They then tied up the animal.

“It’s not uncommon to get an animal complaint like this,” Police Chief Patrick Callahan said Wednesday. “We have the Zumbrota sales barn in town. They don’t claim this sheep. But that’s one of the reasons why we’ve had to deal with stuff like this in the past: sheep, goats, whatever.”

A staffer at the sale barn declined to comment Wednesday, saying the heroic John Waynes didn’t want any media attention. Plus, it was a busy day, as they were selling hogs and cattle.

It’s still not clear from where the lost sheep decamped. As of deadline, the sheep was still believed to be at the sale barn, according to the police.

A few miles west of town, Nancy Ellison has raised sheep for 50 of her 79 years. She uses the wool for spinning and weaving.

“I’ve seen [the sheep] on the news,” Ellison said Wednesday. “I’m kind of getting close to retiring. My sheep are old. Their ages are 9 to 18.”

In other words, Ellison’s sheep aren’t looking to hit the town on a weeknight. But the animals still capture her imagination. While wool prices have taken a nosedive in the U.S., she knows some farmers, particularly out West, still raise big flocks. When she took a trip to Norway, she saw sheep running over the road.

“Our sheep are in fences around here,” she said. “Except the one that got loose, I suppose.”