A police officer used a Taser on a sheep that escaped into a busy road,
Horrified motorists caught in a jam on a busy road watched as a police officer blasted a runaway sheep with a Taser gun to clear the dual carriageway.
Today, animal welfare groups voiced concern after the incident.
Motorists who witnessed the drama on the A55 dual carriageway have also criticised the police for going over the top.
But officers in north Wales insist that using the stun gun was justified to prevent the ram - since named 'Sparky ' by local residents - 'causing major disruption and possible danger to motorists'.
Motorist Mark Faulkes, 47, of Flint, said his 13-year-old daughter Amy was 'very distressed' when she witnessed the sheep being stunned on the A55 near Bodelwyddan.
He said: 'We came across a traffic jam and we saw there was a sheep in the road.
'Everyone had stopped their cars and a few people had got out and were trying to herd the sheep away from the carriageway. 
'The police then arrived and they went towards the sheep but it moved away from them.
'Then one of the officers got out his Taser gun and fired it at the sheep. Then he carried it to the side of the carriageway.
'Amy was very distressed. I don't know if the sheep was alright. When we left, it was lying by the side of the road, shaking.
'I thought it was excessive to use a Taser on a defenceless sheep.
'It could have been directed away from the road without using such force and they didn't even try to herd it.'
Sheila Stewart, the owner of an animal rescue centre in nearby Padeswood said: 'I think the use of a stun gun is excessive.
'It is not difficult to herd a sheep to the side of the road or through a gateway back into a field.
'There is no need to use such excessive force on an animal.'
A RSPCA spokesman said that they would investigate the incident, which took place last Wednesday.
Tony McNulty, the Home Office minister who eased restrictions on the use of stun guns last year, said they could be used 'where officers are facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to use force to protect the public, themselves and or the subjects of their action'.
Richard Brunstrom, the chief constable of North Wales Police, previously said in an online blog that the stun gun would provide 'better and quicker protection to ordinary patrol officers in remote locations, faced with dangerous or violent people'.
A spokeswoman for North Wales Police claimed that Sparky was unhurt after his ordeal. 
North Wales Police officers worst nightmare!
She said: 'We received numerous calls reporting a loose ram crossing over both carriageways of the A55 at St Asaph, causing major disruption and possible danger to motorists.
'Officers attended and to ensure the safety of the motorists, a decision was made to utilise the Taser.
'This was successfully done and the ram was then returned to its owner uninjured.
'The ram later returned to the farmer's field.'
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