Have you seen this ram?
Jason Johnston, jason@emporiagazette.com
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
A four-horn Jacob ram went missing between 1 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. Monday at a sheep farm in Americus.
He was the star attraction at the October Americus Days where he raised $68 to help rebuild a playground for the park in Reading, said Theresa Klaus, the owner of the ram. She put up an animal pen and charged $1 for children to hand-feed oats to the Jacob.
“I feel like I lost a family member, and my Christmas will not be a happy one this year,” Klaus said, who has owned Klaus Farms since February.
The ram is about one year old and is white with patches of dark brown. It may have a yellow tag on one of its ears. The tag has the inscription NE 346 one side and on the other side it says Kreutzer 1155.
Klaus said she bought the ram for $275 in August from Kay Kreutzer in Kearney, Neb. The Jacob is rare and is not a goat, but a sheep. He is not tame. The last time she saw him was Sunday morning.
Klaus and her son, Caleb Klaus, left for Emporia between 11 a.m. and noon to get something to eat and study for finals at Emporia State University. They came back home at about 7 p.m. It was dark, so she did not check her sheep.
Klaus said she was late for an 8 a.m. Monday final, so she did not check the sheep again. When she got back home at 10 a.m., Lyon County rural water workers were putting dirt around her water meter. She asked them if they wanted to see her ram. Klaus called for the Jacob and discovered he was missing.
She said she called the police and Deputy Jacob Welsh of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department interviewed her.
“He came out, and he asked if it got loose,” she said. “There is no way...(he) has never done that before.”
He took pictures of the farm, Klaus said. Welsh and Klaus did not find any blood in the 10-acre lower pasture or around the barn.
Animal control has not found the ram, said Richard Old, Lyon County undersheriff. He does not know if the ram was stolen. The Sheriff’s Department has no suspects at this time.
Klaus did not see anything out of the ordinary like a suspicious vehicle or a suspicious inquiry about the ram. The Jacob is not domesticated.
She is offering a reward for the safe return of the ram.
Anyone who has information about the ram should call Klaus at (913) 727-3304 or the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department at 342-5545.