Suburban Shepherd Charged With Animal Cruelty
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
APEX, N.C. — A man who kept 77 sheep in his suburban home was charged yesterday with 30 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty.
David Watts, 47, was being held at the Wake County jail in lieu of $30,000 bail, police Detective Joey Best said.
Mr. Watts surrendered the flock to animal control officers Monday after police found some sheep grazing on artificial flowers in the town cemetery in Apex, a suburb of Raleigh.
Thirty of the sheep were euthanized because of various health problems. In addition, sheep bones and carcasses were found in Mr. Watts’s yard.
Veterinarian Kelli Ferris, who examined the flock, said some of the animals’ hooves had never been trimmed, causing infections that led the sheep to walk on their knees.
Mr. Watts kept some of the younger sheep on the ground floor of his house and kept the others in pens in the yard, authorities said.
Mr. Watts denies abusing the animals. He told the News & Observer of Raleigh on Tuesday that he was overwhelmed by the number of lambs born this year.
Mr. Watts, who said he has raised sheep for a decade, called the animals “relaxing to be around.”
“It’s like in Florida, you can swim with the dolphins. If you can get sheep to follow you, it might be a similar experience.”
