Nonprofit takes in sheep found wandering Chicago’s West Loop

By Marissa Sulek

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — It was sheer madness, or shear madness, in Chicago’s West Loop this week — and we don’t mean “Shear Madness,” the famous whodunit play set in a hair salon.

We do mean a sheep — yes, that’s right, a sheep — that was spotted running around the West Loop and the Fulton Market area on Monday. The sheep caused quite a commotion for hours, with people following the animal with their phones to see what was going on.

Witnesses said the sheep escaped a butcher shop and slaughterhouse on Halsted Street. He clearly had a mission, and he saved his own life in doing so.

He was spotted around lunchtime Monday, running all around the West Loop and the Fulton Market District.

“I pulled up to the stop sign, and I literally thought I was like tripping or seeing something,” said Bobby Grilli. “I could not believe I was looking at a sheep.”

Grilli saw the sheep on the lam himself before he trotted down Green Street.

People following the woolly animal said he got out of the flock of the Halsted Packing House at 445 N. Halsted St.

“It was funny, because as we got to Halsted Street, the butcher came running across the street,” Grilli said.

Butchers were seen in TikTok videos going after the sheep, which they corralled into a parking lot.

“The butcher was like hiding behind the car to like sneak up behind it,” Grilli said.

At one point, the sheep was cornered by Chicago Animal Care and Control — and the fuzzy fugitive was put in the back of their van.

But Chicago Animal Care and Control said they do not have the space to house livestock like sheep. So the sheep ended up in the backyard of Chicago Chicken Rescue, a nonprofit in the South Side’s Woodlawn neighborhood.

Cofounder Christina Zelano said the rescue operation works with Animal Care and Control to take in domestic animals that come into the shelter — and after 15 years, she said this was her first sheep.

“He was at a slaughterhouse in Chicago, and managed to escape and find his way to the main administrative office, and then smashed through a glass window and ended up roaming the streets of Chicago,” said Zelano.

This is why Zelano says the sheep had a slaughterhouse marking on his back.

“So we’re looking for a home for the sheep, a more permanent home, on a farm that has other sheep,” said Zelano.

For the next few days to a week, Zelano said Chicago Chicken Rescue will be in the backyard. Dozens of chickens and ducks are on one half of the yard, while the sheep is claiming the other.

“I thought, what an impressive animal that he escaped this way to his freedom — and [we] wanted to provide him a chance to live, which is what he wanted,” said Zelano.

Zelano said she does not think the sheep has been outside. She is not sure of his history, but said he is very scared and standoffish.

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