Ram Escapes Ritual Killing, Found Wandering In Essex County: AHS

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A lost sheep in Essex County is already making some new friends in South Jersey after being found wandering the streets of Orange.

On Monday, the Popcorn Park Animal Refuge in Ocean County shared the story of Rudy, a sheep who was allegedly set to be killed as part of a religious ceremony.

The Associated Humane Societies (AHS) – which runs the animal sanctuary – said that its staff got a call from an animal control officer in Orange about two weeks ago. The situation was unusual: a small sheep was spotted running down the road.

According to the AHS, the Orange ACO said he managed to corral the animal, which neighbors told him was recently purchased for a “sacrificial ritual during the festival season.” When captured, the ram had balloons on strings tied to his tail and ear tag. A swath of wool had also been sheared off his back to expose his skin.

The AHS offered the following background about Rudy’s journey to South Jersey:

“Luckily this little guy escaped and was found by Rudy and the next day morning was brought down to Popcorn Park. An exam showed a severely ulcerated cornea of his right eye laceration of his ear and just plain disheveled. After the exam he dove into some grains and eat timothy hay nonstop for about a half hour. When he settled in, we treated his eye and wounds and gave antibiotics injections. Through it all he was great and seemed to enjoy our company even through the exam and treatment. His ulcerated eye was very bad and we were afraid he might have permanent damage so for the next week staff treated his eye every two hours during the day. By the next Friday he had sight again, his ear was healing and he made fast friends of the two staff members who treated him, eagerly waiting for them to come to treat his eye and crying when they had to leave to feed and clean other animals in the park. He was a great patient.”

According to the AHS, Rudy – named after his rescuer – will be introduced to some other smaller goats and sheep in the park as soon as his quarantine is over.

“Until then his two new buddies spend as much time as they can with him,” the nonprofit wrote.

• See related article: Livingston Cops Corral Escaped Sheep
• See related article: NJ Woman Attacked, Thrown Around By Bull In Sparta
• See related article: Driver Distracted By Roseland Man Walking Pig, Hits Pedestrian: Police

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