British police blur sheep's faces on Facebook to 'protect' their identity

LONDON — Seeing a picture of someone with their face blurred on TV or social media isn't exactly uncommon — but it's not often such identity protecting measures are extended to our woolly, four legged friends.

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In a recent post on social media, an officer working for West Midland Police's Central Motorway department shared an image of three sheep that had been rescued from suspected poachers. Confusingly, though, the sheep's faces had been blurred.

Image: west midlands police

The image has since been deleted, although the incident has been written about on West Midlands Police's Facebook page, and the picture is still available on their website.

The image's caption online reads: "The identity of the lambs has been protected due to their age and vulnerability (It's a joke!)"

A spokesperson from West Midlands Police explained to Mashable that the blurred image was originally uploaded by an officer. After receiving requests for the original they took the blurred version down while trying to contact the officer, but due to them being on annual leave they were unable to do so.

The suspected thieves, meanwhile — who were apprehended after police saw them driving a Ford Galaxy with the sheep in the back — are currently in custody.

“It’s not every day we recover live stolen property, but the lambs seem none the worse for their adventure," said Inspector Paul Southern.

“We are now trying to trace where they came from and are asking farmers to check their flocks to see if they have any missing.”