Jackie Chan and his owner, Godwin. But there is a complicated story behind this unlikely pet, which has become the centre of a long-running and bitter neighbourhood dispute. Jackie Chan lives with his owner Godwin Aquilina in Maddingley, a rural suburb south of Bacchus Marsh and about an hour from Melbourne. Moorabool Shire Council recently ordered that the 8½-year-old ram be removed from its owner's home, after complaints that it had attacked people and was dangerous. "It is a saga," says Moorabool mayor Allan Comrie.

Godwin Aquilina introduces Jackie Chan to people on the streets of Melbourne. Credit:Jason South "It's been going on for years and the residents, his neighbours, are really suffering. Rams are dangerous animals – they're like bulls, they'll butt anyone if they can." Jackie Chan the ram is often spotted around Melbourne. Mr Aquilina has been given until midnight on Sunday to find a new home for Jackie Chan, or the ram will be taken by the council.

While Mr Aquilina fears the ram will be destroyed, the mayor insists that Jackie Chan will not come to any harm.

"We'll find somewhere safe where [Mr Aquilina] can visit," Mr Comrie says. Mr Aquilina struggles with his mental health due to an acquired brain injury dating from a truck crash 20 years ago. He has vowed to sleep on Melbourne's streets with his sheep, rather than give him up. He also says he is trying to have Jackie Chan registered as a "companion animal".

"He gives me companionship, he gives me reason to live," Mr Aquilina says. "It's either we both live out on the streets or I give him away. I'm not giving my companion away, I have lost everything else." Council officers say that Jackie Chan has "demonstrated a tendency to attack people". They have stated that if an attack were to occur on council-managed land, council might be liable. Mr Aquilina denies that his ram has attacked anyone. "If they have got any evidence I would love to see it," he says.

He added: "If you walk behind a horse and the horse kicks you, is it your fault or the horse's? But neighbour Debra Bullock says that the merino has attacked or "head butted" a number of people in recent years after escaping from the yard or being tied up in the street. "All this ram is to Aquilina is a lawnmower. You can see by the condition of the ram - it's not shorn, it's not kept," she said. "Anybody could get hurt. I don't blame the ram, that's what the ram does, it's a person's fault." The relationship between the two neighbours is strained, to say the least.

Ms Bullock and Mr Aquilina have taken intervention orders against each other. Jackie Chan seen at Flagstaff Gardens. During Jackie Chan's most recent foray into Melbourne's centre, heads turned as the ram grazed on the lawn outside The Age's Media House office and stood, apparently refusing to move, on the corner of Collins and Spencer streets as he digested his meal. Passers-by whipped out their phones to snap a photo of the spectacle, some posing with the ram, or scratching its chin.

Mr Aquilina knelt by his companion as the sheep licked him on the lips and he told people who asked that Jackie Chan was to be soon killed by the council. He won plenty of sympathisers. "The only criminal thing about it is he needs a shave," said one passerby.