POLICE are appealing for information after a lamb was shot dead in a field at Bovey Tracey.
Officers investigating the shooting are warning that if it was killed for its meat, it could have posed a serious health risk to anyone eating it.
Farmer Rupert Clarkson made the grim discovery while checking on the pedigree Venteen flock with his four-year-old son Isaac.
He said: ‘This lamb was the first one born this season and it was particularly hard because its mother died and my son Isaac helped me to hand rear it.
‘It was very strange as it was not shot where you would expect, either behind the front leg or in the head.
‘It was shot in its back and where the bullet discharged, it smashed up all the meat inside.’
The incident happened between 5pm and 8pm on Thursday last week in the field off Trough Lane.
From the type of weapon used, it is suspected it may have been a .22 rifle. But neither the weapon nor the bullet have been recovered.
A suspicious-looking white Transit-style van was spotted later in one of the lanes but drove off when Mr Clarkson challenged the driver.
Police are trying to find the owner.
Mr Clarkson and his family have farmed on the land for decades and never experienced any of their animals being shot.
PSCO Paul Wilson warned: ‘This is sheer stupidity.
‘Whoever fired the gun showed no kind of marksmanship, firing from a hill which, had the bullet not hit the lamb, could have ended up down the hill towards Bovey Tracey, possibly hitting something or someone else.
‘The assumption is it was shot for the meat.
‘But the shot landed in its stomach which meant all the meat was instantly ripped apart.
‘And the animal had recently been treated for blow fly which meant its meat was tainted.
‘It would be completely irresponsible to have sold this meat for consumption as it would be putting the public at risk.
‘Killing animals in this way is not a victimless crime and poses a serious risk to health.’
Mr Clarkson added that anyone trying to obtain meat this way was taking a risk.
He explained: ‘You wouldn’t know what the owner of the animal had done in terms of treating it so it would be very dangerous to eat.’
Officers are appealing for any information from witnesses who may have seen or heard anything, or offered meat for sale from an unknown source.
Anyone with information can call police on 101 quoting crime reference CR/065617/16.