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Donations made after the slaughter of a boy's pet sheep allow him to buy two and sleep easier.
By BRADY DENNIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 20, 2001
DADE CITY -- Ricky Thomas has had a tough time sleeping since June, when someone crept into his family's pasture at night and butchered his 3-month-old pet sheep, D.J.
"Normally, a hurricane could come across the house and he'd never wake up," Nancy Thomas said of her 11-year-old son. "Now, if the dog barks, he's up in a second."
But thanks to $800 in donations from people who read about Ricky's loss, the sixth-grader had a new reason to get up early on Aug. 11.
He rose at 5 a.m. for the drive to New Smyrna Beach, where two sheep awaited him -- one from Tennessee, one from Georgia.
"He couldn't wait to go," Mrs. Thomas said. "He was so happy, so excited."
He returned with two sheep that are as different as night and day.
D.J. Jr. is petite and white-faced. Born in March, she is about the same age as her namesake.
Faith is full-grown and stately, with a long black face. She has proved herself as a prize-winning sheep at fairs throughout the United States.
Both of them are aptly named.
Ricky decided on the name D.J. Jr. to honor the pet he lost. The other sheep already was named Faith, and Mrs. Thomas thought that fit perfectly.
"I thought that was appropriate after all this," she said. "It's kind of restored our faith in people."
Ricky has been busy building a bond with the new animals like the one he had with D.J., who wore a dog collar with his name on it and answered when called.
He feeds them every day, talks to them and is training D.J. Jr. to walk on a leash; Faith already knows how.
"They are fun to be with," said Ricky, as he walked barefoot into their pen with a scooper full of food. D.J. Jr. scurried away. "They aren't quite used to me yet," he said.
Sheriff's deputies said D.J. was slaughtered early June 11 in the family's backyard pasture, apparently for meat. Whoever killed him field-gutted and carved away his loins while he still was alive.
No one has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Mrs. Thomas found the young sheep's body near a tree about 5:30 a.m. She wouldn't let Ricky see the carcass.
"D.J. had a nice personality," said Kathy Nawlin, Ricky's aunt and an agriculture teacher at Stewart Middle School, "(Sheep) each have their own personalities."
This time around, the Thomases aren't taking any chances with intruders. They've built a new enclosure for the sheep, complete with an electric fence. Their dogs, including one Rottweiler, will be free to roam inside the fence and protect the sheep.
Ricky hopes to show his two new pets, along with D.J.'s mother, Zim, at fairs.
"He definitely wants to win some trophies," Nawlin said.
With the new sheep, Ricky said he's confidant he can do just that. More important, he's glad to have sheep to care for again and glad he can sleep a little better at night.
"Both of them put together can't replace D.J.," he said. "Nothing can replace D.J. But they are really nice. They are good pets."