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You'd Better Not Eat Those Stolen Sheep

Posted on: Friday, 3 October 2003, 06:00 CDT

Twenty-one sheep stolen from a kudzu-munching herd might be tasty but could end up causing a big bellyache.

The sheep were given their worm medicine one day before they were stolen last week, shepherd Meaghan Thacker said. And the worm medicine could make anyone who eats the sheep sick, she said.

"If they haven't killed them yet, they can always bring them back," Thacker said.

The animals, valued at $2,000, are owned by New Hampshire-based Bellwether Solutions, which has a contract with the city to reduce kudzu, a fast-growing vine. A native of China, kudzu was introduced to the South 70 years ago to stop erosion - a big mistake.

Kudzu grows at a rate of a foot a day in warm weather and chokes entire forests in weeks. Pesticides don't work well and humans tire of endlessly hacking away amid the dense underbrush.

But sheep like kudzu.

When the city of Tallahassee started its sheep program three years ago, about 300 sheep grazed out 60 acres of kudzu. Now the flock numbers 1,200 and can eat up 200 acres annually, city parks director Larry Schenk said. The annual cost is $150,000.

The herd is stationed all over the city and county in flocks of 60 to 300. They're guarded by an easy-to-install electric fence and, sometimes, a guard dog. No dog was on duty last week when the sheep were stolen from their pen.

It's the second time the herd's sheep have been stolen since they were brought here in 2000.

After the latest theft, state agricultural workers posted an area lookout at livestock inspection stations and markets. But Bellwether Solutions President Dick Henry isn't holding his breath.

"I wouldn't be surprised at all if they've been slaughtered and put into somebody's freezer," he said.

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