This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-36256534
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Sheepish police blur faces of lambs at centre of alleged rustling | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Social media sites have been rammed with confusion after police released blurred images of victims of crime - who happened to be sheep. | |
| The lambs' identity was "protected due to their age and vulnerability", West Midlands Police said. | |
| The woolly passengers were spotted after they were herded into the back of a car and driven around by suspected rustlers. | |
| But the subsequent image circulated by the force turned out to be a joke. | |
| Nic Barlow commented on Facebook: "I wondered why the picture looked a bit woolly." | |
| Abbas Zen said: "It would be an animal rights issue if they didn't [blur the images]." | |
| Other people were less amused by the force's sense of fun. | |
| "Police show criminal sense of humour as they release pictures of stolen sheep with pixelated faces," tweeted Solene Deplanche. | |
| Officers said three suspected sheep rustlers found in the car near Hob Moor Road, Yardley in Birmingham were rounded up in nearby gardens - with one up a tree and another penned in a conservatory. | |
| The men aged 22, 27, and 28, were arrested on suspicion of theft, while police traced owners of the sheep. | |
| Jokes aside, officers said the lambs were unhurt and have been temporarily re-homed on a farm in Sheldon. |