NSW farmer Ken Turner didn't know you could offend sheep with rude words.
That was until the RSPCA came knocking on the door of his station outside Broken Hill, acting on a tip-off his shearers were swearing at his flock.
Apparently the rude words were distressing the herd.
"None of them actually told me they were offended," a bemused Mr Turner told Macquarie Radio on Friday.
The complaint, lodged by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which had reportedly obtained footage from an undercover worker at the station, assumed sheep could at least understand English, he said.
"I still haven't had a sheep come to me (to complain) - they didn't even look offended to me after they were shorn.
"They just walked down to the paddock, grazed intently, and I didn't notice any distress attached to them."
Mr Turner hasn't seen the footage alleging he sanctioned such behaviour, so he doesn't know what kind of rude words were apparently used.
But he took a guess: "From time to time everybody lets out a golly gosh occasionally," he said.
The case has been dropped but Mr Turner says he's annoyed the complaint took resources away from the RSPCA.
"I thought, is this a joke? Is this April Fools?
"It's just sad because there possibly are legitimate cases that should be investigated."
PETA said its complaint did not just involve offensive language but physical abuse, including stomping and punching of the sheep.
"If foul language were the worst that sheep in Australian shearing sheds had to endure, then no complaint would have been filed," a spokeswoman said.
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