ELLSWORTH – A local woman is facing a civil charge of cruelty to animals after she left an injured ram unattended and tied to a tree for several days, according to police.

The animal was so sick it had to be euthanized, Ellsworth Police Chief John DeLeo said Friday.

DeLeo said Susan Walsh, 52, traveled to Pennsylvania last week on vacation and had made arrangements for some people to tend to some of her animals while she was gone. She had told the animal sitters that a ram would be either in or near the barn of her Atlantic Highway property but that they didn’t need to worry about it, the chief said.

After a few days, the sitters noticed they had not seen a ram at the property and started looking for it, according to DeLeo. They found the ram with open wounds on its hindquarters tied to a tree near the back of the property, he said.

DeLeo said he was not sure how the ram suffered its injuries but that they were serious. The wounds were rotting and infested with bugs, he said.

The sitters called police on July 6 and took the ram to a veterinarian in Dover-Foxcroft, where it was euthanized the same day, the chief said.

DeLeo said Walsh later told police she had been treating the wound before she left and that it appeared to be healing. The ram was found about 30 to 40 yards from Walsh’s house, he said, and had its lead wrapped around the tree so that it could get no more than one foot away.

Walsh is expected to appear on the civil charge in Ellsworth District Court on Sept. 16, according to police.

btrotter@bangordailynews.net

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