Pet sheep slaughtered and butchered in field and owner fears meat will be sold on black market

Bee was one of five rescue animals raised by Dawn Smith at Over The Hill Farm in Newbottle.

Dawn discovered her remains when she went to visit her pets on Friday, March 20.

“This morning, I saw four of them at the side of the field and what looked like one of them lying in the field,” she said.

As she drew closer, she was horrified to discover what had happen.

“There is nothing left of her. She has been slaughtered in the field,” said Dawn.

“Somebody has gutted her, skinned her and removed her intestines then carried her away. They have taken all the meat off her and taken her away through our field.

“We have got the knife she slaughtered with – she was killed with a fishing knife.”

Now Dawn is appealing for anyone who can help find those responsible to come forward.

“At 7.30pm last night, there was a 54 registered white transit van parked where she was taken in High Lane,” she said.

“If anybody was driving past between 6pm and 8pm, and has any dashcam footage, I would ask them to get in touch with the police

Dawn believes it was not a random attack and fears the sheep has been sold on as meat.

She said: “It is somebody who has known what they were doing because they have gutted her first, then skinned her in my field.

“You go to the supermarket and the shelves are empty – somebody has obviously seen them and thought ‘We can make some money on this’.

“I never expected to experience something as horrible as this in my life. It was like a horror scene

“I don’t want anybody else to go through what I have been through this morning

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: "Shortly after 9.15 on Friday we received a report a sheep had been killed on farm land on Durham Road, Houghton.

"Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information is asked to get in touch via our online reporting tool, quoting log number 173 200320.”