Who's Been Murdering Manchester's Sheep?

As Britain continues to spiral into a worsening state of poverty and hunger, famished men resorting to anything they can to feed their families have been sneaking into fields in Stockport, Greater Manchester and chopping the legs off sheep. Well, either that or Manchester is just full of weirdos who get kicks out of hacking the back legs off completely defenceless animals.

After a string of leg-thefts, leaving 10 sheep dead, PETA have offered a reward of £1,000 to anyone who manages to track down the people responsible for the ongoing slaughtering on Lion House Farm in Cheadle. I spoke to the farm's owner William Perkins about the crisis.

VICE: Hi William. What’s going on in the fields of Manchester?
William Perkins: The things they’ve been doing are just barbaric. They always pick the one to two-year-old sheep – not the older ones. I think they use a dog to chase and pin the sheep down, then once that's done, they go across and cut the sheep's back legs off. One had got its head stuck in some netting and obviously couldn't get it back out, and while it was stuck there, they cut its back legs off. The sheep was still stood in that position when we got there the next morning. It's horrible.

So they only take the legs?
Yeah, they’re not taking the full sheep because they'd have a lot of intestines to get rid of, the fleece to get rid of, bones to get rid of – so they take the bit with the highest percentage of meat that's quick to hack off.

Christ. What kind of people could do that? Are they butchers, do you think?
Well, they're definitely skilled in taking the legs off. I asked my butcher if he could take the legs off a sheep with its fleece still on and he said it'd be quite difficult. I said, "How about in a dark field?" and he said that would be even more difficult. So these people are very skilled and they've obviously got a very sharp knife.

So you reckon the culprits might be trained butchers?
Oh aye. Well, most of the people who come from the East Bloc do their own slaughtering, which we can't do here because we've got to abide by European rules. But these Eastern Bloc countries don't abide the same European rules, even though they're a part of Europe.

You reckon they're foreign, then?
Well, they must be local because they know their way around the place, but – well, without saying it – I wouldn't say they're English people. I don't think English people would ever do something like this.

Are you taking any precautions to keep the foreign butchers away?
Yes, but I don’t really want to say what they are at this moment.

Mysterious. What steps are you willing to take to stop it happening?
Everything within the law. Read between the lines on that one.

I’ll try. Thanks, William!

Anyone with information can call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Follow Sam on Twitter: @sambobclements

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