It happens in Detroit about once a decade: An animal, headed to its death at a slaughterhouse, stands out from the herd.

Infused with a surge of self-determination, it bolts for freedom and hoofs it through the streets in a mad dash for freedom. 

It happened again on Tuesday. A sheep, apparently bound for death, was seen running along the northern edge of Detroit, primed for execution, with a purple stripe down its back and a numbered tag in its ear.

The sheep ran along E. 8 Mile Road and turned onto Van Dyke, where it scampered into Nortown Collision & Glass Co. Workers there subdued the sheep, but it tried to escape again.

It didn't get very far, ramming into a door made of reinforced glass.

The sheep then stood there, crying like a baby, according to media reports.

Animal control workers picked up the sheep and took it to the city’s animal control center, a police spokesman said. Authorities are trying to contact the sheep's owner.

What should happen to this runaway sheep?

There really is only one answer: Amnesty. It should be granted its freedom. It has shown it wants to live. It should not become lamb stew. Sheep are symbols for Christ -- the Lamb of God, Agnus Dei. The Bible refers to Christ as "like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers." (Isaiah 53:7)

Check out the precedent.

In 2003, a steer broke away from a death march into an Eastern Market slaughterhouse and ran for miles through some of the busiest streets in the city, passing waving students and honking motorists. Police finally stopped it with a tranquilizer dart in a vacant lot along E. Jefferson.

After a series of negotiations, the steer wound up at SASHA Farm, the Sanctuary and Safe Haven for Animals near Manchester.

The steer, left, named Jefferson, continues to live at the farm, according to SASHA's website.

It explains:

Like millions of other animals every year raised as food, his short life was about to come to a terrible, brutal end. But Jefferson did something that touched the hearts of thousands of people: He ran. Instead of marching solemnly to his death, he broke free. His courageous escape and subsequent flight down busy Jefferson Avenue captured the attention of the media and the public, and though he was captured, he brought much needed attention to the plight of his bovine brethren.

Jefferson lives with a herd of seven other cows and spends his days happily wandering around his hilly wooded pasture, foraging for tasty foliage or lying in the shade with his bovine family. He's grown quite a bit since his arrival at the sanctuary, but remains a gentle, quiet soul.

Can we expect anything less for the runaway sheep?