BANDON — Coos County investigators are hoping the public can help them solve an animal abuse case in which someone shot dead 42 sheep near Bandon.

Rich Vincent of Two-Mile Road found the decomposing bodies of his sheep on a neighbor’s property at the end of Morrison Road on Oct. 19. The sheep reportedly had crossed through a fence separating Vincent’s land from his neighbor’s.

The sheep were all killed by gunfire and left to bleed to death. They were “not nicely” killed, Animal Control Officer Rick Hoover said.

At least two of the animals were shot in the head. The rest were heavily decomposed. Several of the carcasses had been dragged around and there was evidence of bear activity, Hoover said.

While the occasional shooting of a single sheep has been reported, this kind of incident has never happened before in this area.

“Everybody was taken aback by this,” Hoover said.

Due to the extent of decomposition, a government trapper had to be called in to determine when the shootings actually occurred.

The shootings likely would be considered aggravated animal abuse, said Coos County sheriff’s Cpl. Jeff Grant.

“Somebody could see some pretty good jail time over that,” he said.

Hoover is urging anyone with information in the case to contact him at 269-2312.