Sheep sometimes have a reputation for being passive and helpless. “Gentle as a lamb,” we say. Well, maybe . . . maybe not.

Reuters News Service told of an Egyptian man who had been pushed to his death from a three‑story building by a sheep that he was preparing for slaughter. The report noted that many Egyptian city dwellers keep livestock on their rooftops. This particular city dweller had been fattening the sheep in question for months getting it ready for a ritual sacrifice. Before that could happen, however, for some unknown reason the sheep butted the man, knocking him off the roof. Neighbors found him lying bleeding on the ground below. He died soon after reaching the hospital.

It is a tragic story, of course, but it is still odd. A sacrificial sheep mortally wounding the man who w…