Ewe gives birth to a puppy

A sheep gave birth to a dog on a farm in China, claims its owner Liu Naiying, who has had people flocking to see the woolly 'lamb-puppy'.

Liu says he came across the lamb-dog in one of his fields shortly after it was born. And by 'born', he means his sheep was licking the creature and therefore it was sporting that moist, 'fresh from the womb' look. 'I was herding the sheep, and saw a sheep licking her newborn lamb on the grassland. The lamb was still wet,' he said.

'When I went up close to check on the lamb I was shocked because it looked so weird, like a cross between a sheep and a dog. 'I was a bit frightened, as I've been raising sheep for 20 years and had never seen such a creature.' Though it has wool like a lamb's, the creature's mouth, nose, eyes, paws and tail are most definitely dog-like.

Liu says the creature even plays like a puppy. Vets, oddly enough, have stepped in and pointed out that it's impossible for a sheep to give birth to a dog, but that hasn't stopped the lamb-dog tourists rocking up to the farm in Fugu County, Shaanxi Province, in their droves.

According to people at Xi'an City Animal Husbandry Technology Centre who know about these sorts of things, it's most likely that Liu's animal is simply an abnormal lamb.