Shepherd Freed After 15 Years With Flock

A 62-year-old shepherd slept in a bed for the first time in 15 years after police arrested his employer, who forced him to live with his sheep in the pastures, the ANSA news agency said Saturday.

Since taking his job 15 years ago, Pasquale Mereu had been forced to sleep and eat with his flock. He dressed in dirty and ragged canvas clothing and shoes with holes and was given only cheese to eat, ANSA reported. He ate his first hot meal in years--meat and pasta--at police barracks Friday and spent his first night in a bed at his brother’s house, the agency said.