Send this page to someone via email

A stray sheep seen running — some might say on the lamb — through traffic in southeast Winnipeg Thursday has made it safely back to its flock.

Elaine Sapach first spotted the lost even-toed ungulate in front of her Beaupre Bay home in the Island Lakes neighbourhood shortly before 3 p.m.

She thought someone was pulling the wool over her eyes.

“I definitely took a double look because there was a sheep standing in the street in front of my neighbour’s house,” said Sapach when reached by Global News Friday.

“My first thought was who do I call, right, because it shouldn’t be there — it belongs somewhere.”

She first called the police non-emergency number, but was told to call the Winnipeg Humane Society. From there she was told to give the city’s animal services department a try.

Story continues below advertisement

READ MORE: Hundreds show up to play with dogs at Winnipeg Animal Services on Christmas

It seems calls about loose sheep on city streets aren’t that common in Winnipeg.

“Everybody I called, from non-emergency, to the Humane Society, to 311, they’re just like ‘excuse me, a sheep?” laughed Sapach of the responses she got from call takers.

“I said yes, there’s a sheep in the city on my street — everybody was surprised.” Tweet This

After making the report Sapach continued to keep her eye on the sheep, which she says loitered around her neighbourhood for another 30 minutes before something spooked it and it took off towards Bishop Grandin Boulevard.

Sapach said she was terrified to see the sheep take off towards Bishop Grandin Boulevard. Elaine Sapach/Facebook

With her kids in tow, she followed the lost animal and watched with bated breath as it darted through traffic on the busy roadway — somehow making it across safely.

Story continues below advertisement

“It made it through every car … I was like ‘that’s a lucky sheep,’” said Sapach, who last saw the animal hoofing it into the Southdale neighbourhood.

Winnipeg police confirm they received two calls reporting a sheep “trotting” through traffic in the area, but say officers couldn’t find the animal when they responded to the calls.

A spokesperson from animal services said the sheep had made it home safely by Friday morning, but couldn’t say where the sheep had come from or how it got loose.

It’s also not clear how the sheep was caught.

While Sapach still has questions about exactly why the off-course sheep decided to trot through her neighbourhood, she’s glad to have a good yarn to tell her friends.

“Around here you see the deer or the odd fox — typical wildlife — but never sheep,” she said.

“It was definitely something different.”

RELATED VIDEO: Animal lovers worry about goose in parking lot

1:27 Animal lovers worry about goose in parking lot Animal lovers worry about goose in parking lot