Brad Is Back! Sheep Safely Captured After Weeks-Long Getaway

A multi-county, multi-week search for Brad, the daring sheep on the run from city to city, came to a safe end Tuesday with one story to tell.

Midway Township sighting Monday

“Oh God. I don’t even feel like it’s real. I don’t think it’s real, but it is,” said Shana Roberts, a volunteer at the Lake County Humane Society in Two Harbors who had been one of the main people trying to capture Brad.

Since his get-away threw weeks ago, Brad has gotten the attention of people and media across Minnesota who were tracking sightings of him from Two Harbors, down to Duluth, Proctor and then to Midway Township Monday night and Tuesday, where he was finally safely captured.

“It still doesn’t feel real, because you put all the work in, and you keep kind of not, not getting them, and then you’re like, well, what do I do? I give up? Or what do I do? I’m like, oh, no, you can’t give up on Brad,” Roberts said.

Over the three weeks since his disappearance, Roberts has had multiple face-to-face encounters with Brad.  The first time was for four hours as she tried to gain trust by giving Brad a whole lot of white bread.

Every time, though, he would get spooked with other rescuers would move in.

But on Monday, Brad took a liking to a home in Midway Township and stayed there through Tuesday, thanks to quiet homeowners and more white bread.

A Duluth vet was called in on Tuesday, with the help of Roberts, to safely tranquilize Brad before he out-smarted humans once again.

“Just like seeing him, because I got a picture of him that I sent you when he was all wrapped up in the car. So, I was like, Ryan, just for my own worries, he’s wrapped up, right? And you have hooked to something, so when you open your car door, it ain’t going to be running, right? I don’t want to do this again,” Robert explained.

Brad back on the farm in Carlton Tuesday night

Ryan is a farmer in Carlton who Roberts said sold Brad to a breeder in Two Harbors on Oct. 29.  That’s where Brad made a run for it when the trailer door opened.

Farmer Ryan saw all the media coverage and got in contact with Roberts on Tuesday.  He showed up to the home in Midway Township to help in the safe capture of Brad, which is exactly what happened.

Tuesday night, Brad was back at Ryan’s farm in Carlton with his twin sister and mother.

Roberts said Farmer Ryan told her that Brad will not be going anywhere. He will live a full life on the farm in Carlton, where it all began.

“Brad, he deserved this. He worked hard, so now he gets to have a life of relaxation,” Roberts said.

The feeling of relaxation for Brad has begun at a young age, too.  Roberts said he was only born in April!