Richard George and Bill Lauderdale are used to shepherding agenda items. Saturday, the longest-tenured members of the Warren County Board of Supervisors shepherded a sheep — lost, but not little.

If you know

* Those with information as to the rightful owner of the animal may contact Penny George at 601-638-3211.

* Brochures with information on registering livestock with the Mississippi Board of Animal Health’s Animal Disease and Disaster Preparedness program are available at county Extension offices statewide, including Warren County’s at 1100-C Grove Street. Online forms may be accessed here.

The full-grown, black-faced Suffolk appeared across the street from Lauderdale’s home in Sherwood Forest in south Warren County just as he was preparing to leave home to perform official duties at the opening of the new Kroger store in town.

A neighbor, Judy Potter, had spotted the woolly animal feasting on cat food in a nearby yard and phoned her supervisor.

“I just didn’t know who else to call,” Potter said. “Apparently, it had been wandering all over the neighborhood.”

Warren County sheriff’s deputies were also called. They tied the ram to a bush temporarily, but the otherwise docile creature turned aggressive — using his horns for their designated purpose.

“It gave the deputy some grief,” Lauderdale said. “At first, I didn’t know what to do, so I called Richard because he’s used to dealing with these things.” Lauderdale has worked in manufacturing and as a deputy for the state Tax Commission. George is a farmer. “I assisted Richard, I’ll put it that way,” Lauderdale said.

George decided to take the sheep to the wide-open, hilly grazing fields along Fisher Ferry Road owned by his stepmother, Penny George. 

Facing a long walk down the winding road to the pasture, the two instead took the scenic route over hills and brush to the safety of a holding pen usually reserved for nursing cattle.

“For a ram, it behaved very well. I was quite surprised,” George said.

Since Saturday, calls have been placed to known farmers and animal-control agencies checking on any reports of missing sheep, Potter said. The breed, rare in this area, is commonly raised for mutton.

Even the Mississippi Animal Disease and Disaster Preparedness Program administered by the Mississippi Board of Animal Health, geared to help livestock owners keep track of animals following storms, outbreaks of disease and other calamities, wasn’t able to find an owner.

“I’ve called everyone in the county. No one seems to know,” Potter said.

Livestock can be housed on a temporary basis at recently expanded kennels at the Vicksburg-Warren Humane Society, director Georgia Lynn said. From there, Lynn said, such cases are shipped off to the Mississippi Animal Rescue League’s facility in Jackson, from where a home can be found.

No identification or sensor of any type is on the sheep, content for the moment to work down Penny George’s supply of hay and cattle food.

“It was playing with a calf, but it didn’t have a chance,” she said. “It’s a pretty ugly pretty thing,” she said.

According to the Ireland-based Suffolk Sheep Society, the breed originated at the turn of the 18th century in the English town of Bury St. Edmunds when Norfolk ewes were mated with Southdown rams —  making for the British Isles’ most common breed and producer of some of the highest-quality prime lamb.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com.