A senseless act of violence has a High River area family shaking their heads and High River RCMP looking for information.
Early on Saturday morning the Howdens found two of their sheep had been shot and killed overnight.
The sheep had been intentionally shot through the head, said Darlene Howden.
“Sheep are such helpless creatures, I can’t imagine who would think of doing this,” she said. “These were like family pets.”
The Howdens do not raise sheep themselves, she said, but purchase three to five “bottle babies” from a sheep farmer each year for their children to bottle feed.
“They’re orphan lambs that need special care and need to be bottle fed for a few weeks because they’re rejected by their mamas for whatever reason,” said Howden.
While Howden said the shooting does not pose a significant financial loss for the family, it’s difficult to understand the motivation for these actions and makes them wonder what could be next.
“Our horses are in the next paddock, there are our dogs,” she said. “It makes you feel uncomfortable.”
Howden said their home, on River Road just west of High River, is surrounded by many houses that were abandoned after the June 2013 flood and they have noticed a lot of vandalism and increased traffic in the area recently.
“There are locks being broken on empty houses, parties, just a lot of dumb stuff happening,” said Howden. “But it’s a little personal when somebody shoots your animals.”
Corporal Blair Schneider said the investigation is ongoing.
RCMP have determined shots were fired from a long-barreled firearm into the field, but have not proven whether the shooter was standing in the road or firing from a vehicle, he said.
“Right now we’re looking for information, if anyone saw or heard anything,” said Schneider. “This one just strums the emotional chords and we want to get to the bottom of it.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the High River RCMP at 403-652-2357.
