A flock of sheep closed Highway 40 westbound this afternoon at Christophe Colomb Avenue after the pickup truck carrying them broke down.

Because the sheep were on the highway, the Sûreté du Québec was called to corral them.

But the situation required backup to handle the increasingly congested highway, so the Montreal police were called as well.

Police worked to deal with the traffic that had taken over the highway while the SQ gathered about 15 wayward sheep.

According to the SQ's Sgt. Christine Coulombe the situation was handled quickly and "everyone is safe and sound."

The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. Saturday.