UKC

What to do? Just came off the M62 at junction 22 (I think... One that goes to Saddleworth, Delph...) passed a couple of sheep sitting by the side of the road, with lambs in tow.

Quite a fast road. Can't see it ending well if they wander into the path of a car. No idea who one contacts about this sort of thing. Would a farmer know his sheep are missing and go looking?

In reply to ThunderCat:

999. If they get on the motorway and someone swerved etc..

In reply to ThunderCat:

Probably better ringing 101 (non emergency).
... otherwise, according to a young shepherdess acquaintance, leave them alone and they'll come home , wagging their tails behind them.

In reply to Stichtplate:


True to some degree as they'll be hefted to a given area, but something has already gone wrong. I'd would say it's non emergency but I think a large proportion of the population would swerve for lamb without doing mirror, indicate, manoeuvre...

In reply to Stichtplate:

it was Junction 22, A672 (Ripponden Road). It's a couple of 100 yards away from the motorway and there are actually cattlegrids between it and the slip road to the motorway so I think that shouldn't be a problem..

But like I say it's a 50mph road...but one of those that people tend to batter it along.

101 say there is nothing they can do as long as the sheep are not on the road. Pointed out that they the road doesn't have any barriers, just grass verges, and the sheep are sitting there just a couple of feet from the cars ( so I guess the fence has been breached somewhere).

101 passed me to 999, who say as long as the sheep are not on the road...etc...etc..

Call handler seemed less than interested...I suddenly feel like a bit of a dick for even bothering

In reply to ThunderCat:

Don't feel a dick, you did the right thing.

In reply to summo:

Not the nicest road. You've just come off the motorway so your head is still in 70mph (everytime I use it, I'm going 50mph with at least two people driving into my boot trying to get past)

No barriers on the side and a bit of a drop on the right.

In reply to ThunderCat:


Were they white sheep? If you had mentioned their racist or homophobic behaviour the bill would be there bloody quick.

In reply to ThunderCat:

The dick is them for not thanking you for calling.

In reply to ThunderCat:



Definitely not a dick for reporting it.
However, I feel a bit of a dick since no one got my Little Bo Peep reference.

In reply to ThunderCat:

101 passed me to 999, who say as long as the sheep are not on the road...etc...etc..

Phone the local Police direct as they are more likely to do something, or might have contact details of the farmer.
Failing that, try the RSPCA. Though it might not be exotic or exciting enough for them to bother...

In reply to Stichtplate:



Doh.. Sorry mate.. I've done the manchester to sunderland and back run twice this week, I've for a case of man flu developing...my head is fuzzy. "Woolly" if you will.. ...Yeah. It sailed right over me. I feel a bit sheepish now.

In reply to Stichtplate:

This actually happened when I called the police...


https://media.giphy.com/media/Jla5RPmauthcs/giphy.gif

In reply to ThunderCat:


I don't believe ewe. Are you trying to pull the wool over our eyes?

In reply to ThunderCat:

Sheep on the roads, I wonder how much police time they take up every year?

In my rural Wales, every time that call came in police hearts sank, 2 officers stopped their work, drove 45 minutes (more or less) to wherever, either the sheep had gone or they spent more time looking for a farmer or chasing them up and down a road looking for a gateway (sheparding is not included in the rural police training manual).

Then eventually back to the station, a morning work gone and a member of the public moaning about "where are all the police when you need one"? Repeat scenario all through the holiday season.

For some reason I never knew a farmer charged or enforced to make good his crap fencing and gates, always someone elses fault.
Cynical rant over. I'm not knocking you, just the system that allows this total waste of police time to continue.
People could drive slower in the countryside!

In reply to Dax H:

this

In reply to ThunderCat:

Just found out from a friend who drives that way that there's a dead lamb at the side of the road.

In reply to ThunderCat:

Look on the bright side, tasty roadkill.

In reply to ThunderCat:

The police lack of interest sounds like a cop out. I hope you asked them to log your message in case an accident occurs?

Very different to our local police reaction when I rang them to report two loose horses on a busy road near Hastings. They were very appreciative and sent a patrol car out. It got reported in the local rag as attempts by police, motorists and eventually the owners to round them up caused a big traffic hold up!

In reply to Trangia:


Oy, I thought we agreed, no more puns....

Heheheh. Yeah they logged the call but said nobody would attend

In reply to ThunderCat:

I normally do 101 down that road

In reply to Moley:

Perhaps you were doing something far more worthwhile than it seemed at the time - a few years back a poor girl living just over the road died while going to work on her moped when sheep got out and caused a crash on a bendy country lane between her and a car - you might have saved a life on those callouts

In reply to wercat:

I wasn't a copper, I was civilian in the force so response nothing to do with me. But I did see the amount of time spent on responding to these calls.
Ultimately I think it should be the responsibility of the farmer to ensure his stock are not able to stray onto roads, some of their casualness towards fencing is ridiculous.

Obviously anyone who hits a sheep and is injured or killed is bad (presuming they are driving with caution in the countryside), bearing in mind wild deer cause from 42,000 - 74,000 accidents in the UK every year (estimates) and 450 injuries including some fatal we have to accept accidents involving animals will happen in the countryside and drive accordingly. Calling the police out every time a sheep is seen on the road (and some roads are over common land and moorland with open grazing) is something of a waste of police time given the shortages of manpower etc.
That's just my opinion.

In reply to Moley:

Yes, I agree that farmers should keep their fences in better order than you sometimes find but I also find it hard to blame people who take trouble to report what they think is a hazard. Is there a hotline to the Highways Agency so they can triage hazard reports and take the load from the police?

In reply to Moley:

There are issues with lazy call handlers at times - whether they are civilian or police. Sometimes they don't seem to just think it through, and pass intel on well enough.

But its not clear if info was passed on in this case. Manpower dictates that they wouldn't dispatch a crew to round them up, but if info was passed on to the local officer - who would probably know the culprit, it could be dealt with in due course. In my area we all know who's fences are rubbish and who doesn't seem to give a toss either.

On my way home I was dealing with both stray sheep and cows. Countryside eh!

In reply to ThunderCat:
On two occasions I have gone and knocked on the nearest farmhouse door, once for a dozen cows on their way to prestatyn, and once a sheep scarily close to getting on the A55. Both times the person answering was really helpful even though they weren't their animals, and quickly phoned round their mates to find out whose they were and get a few pairs of hands to sort the situation out.

I have also, whilst at work (ambulance) called through a dog on the A55, passed to police control via our control, police immediately put up warnings on the traffic management signs, closed off a road with the ambulance at one end and me at the other with a torch, when their was a horse on the loose, pitch black bendy road, with black horse that just had a tiny bit of white on it's nose which was pointing just the right direction that my colleague saw it and was able to stop in time. Same for a cow.

I've always found the police take it seriously.

In reply to SAF:

Honestly, if there had been a farmhouse in sight, I would have made the effort to go and knock. The only farm I could think of war the one that sits between the two lanes of the M62....but from memory that seemed to be way back, many miles away and I couldn't see them being his sheep. If I knew the area better I probably would have scouted around a bit, but my local knowledge is zilch...I follow that road and have never turned off it.

I just wanted to try and avoid an accident, try to save a critter from a nasty death, and try to save a farmer a bit of his livelihood. one out of three ain't bad