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LAW ENFORCEMENT Tickets issued to downtown animal keeper Occasional goat tender accused of sheep-related violations Comment By Alexander Mesadieu for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Alexander Mesadieu for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 28, 2015 at 3:49 PM Updated Aug 28, 2015 at 3:50 PM By Alexander Mesadieu for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 28, 2015 at 3:49 PM Updated Aug 28, 2015 at 3:50 PM » Social News You may have seen Aaron Fletcher walking through Ashland. He’s usually wearing sandals, with either sheep or goats at his side, and he hangs a cardboard sign on his back that reads “homelessshepherd.com” or bears the name of another of the websites he’s created. Fletcher is known throughout Ashland for escorting his farm animals around town, but after a recent trial he may have to change his lifestyle or continue facing fines. The Ashland Police Department recently began ticketing Fletcher for violations of the city's ordinance related to keeping farm animals in town — more than a year since Fletcher first began shepherding farm animals in the city. Fletcher got a ticket Jun. 6 for allegedly breaking Ashland’s Keeping of Animals ordinance with his sheep after Officer Matthew Carpenter saw that Fletcher had been in the same location with his sheep for about an hour. Fletcher was later found guilty. Fletcher and his sheep (he's also kept goats) have been on the police department’s radar for a while. “(Police officers received) a lot of complaints from people because they would see Mr. Fletcher downtown with the sheep," Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara explained, "and that’s a very unusual sight. We got complaints about the sheep, their excrement being disposed of improperly. We got complaints about Mr. Fletcher hanging out in or at the front entrance to Lithia Park with the sheep.” “(Officer Carpenter) would pay attention to where Mr. Fletcher was and eventually saw Mr. Fletcher staying put with the sheep ... not just going through downtown, but hanging downtown with the sheep. He would see him disposing of the sheep's feces inappropriately, in an illegal manner. And so he enforced a law that is on the books about keeping of animals appropriately.” Fletcher said he did not expect to be found guilty. “I went to trial thinking that the judge was going to be smart enough to see that I wasn’t breaking any law," Fletcher said. "The word 'sheep' doesn't even exist in the Keeping of Animals ordinance.” Municipal Court declined to comment, and the city attorney could not be reached. On Aug. 2, Carpenter ticketed Fletcher again for Keeping of Animals, and Fletcher received a "scattering rubbish" ticket for disposing of sheep feces improperly. On Tuesday Aug. 18, Fletcher pleaded no contest to scattering rubbish and not guilty to the Keeping of Animals charge. Fletcher will go to court again for Keeping of Animals Sep. 10. If Fletcher is found guilty, he faces up to a $160 fine on top of the $240 fine he received for scattering rubbish. Alexander Mesadieu is a staff writer for The Siskiyou, the Southern Oregon University student online newspaper. By Alexander Mesadieu for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Alexander Mesadieu for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 28, 2015 at 3:49 PM Updated Aug 28, 2015 at 3:50 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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