A hapless farmer mistakenly got a wolf to look after his sheep (Picture: Alamy / File)

We all know the story about the boy who cried wolf but a hapless Polish farmer has offered a new take on the classic fable.

The agriculturalist was left red-faced after discovering a ‘stray’ puppy he had taken in to look after his flock of sheep was actually a wolf.

Embarrassed Zbigniew Pieczyk, 50, from Podlasie only realised his mistake when the young wolf ‘howled all night’.

‘I thought it was a sheepdog pup or a German shepherd,’ the sheepish farmer explained.


‘Then when it started to howl every night I realised I’d made one hell of a mistake and I called the police.’

Thankfully, the young wolf didn’t attack any sheep and is now set to be returned to the wild after his unlikely adventure.