A Tasmanian man has been charged with animal cruelty after a video of a sheep allegedly being shorn with a chainsaw was shared on the internet.
Police launched an investigation last week into the alleged cruelty, which they say took place near Woodbury in the state's rural centre.
"On 12 April ... a person saw and filmed what appeared to be a sheep being crutched with a chainsaw," Tasmania Police said in a statement.
"The film was later circulated on social media."
Crutching is the removal of wool from around the tail and between the back legs of a sheep.
A 58-year-old man from York Plains was on Thursday charged with cruelty to animals under the Animal Welfare Act 1993.
He has been summonsed to appear in the Hobart Magistrates Court at a later date.
