Ok, so this has been going for a while it seems in my saves but only know have I really started to notice it (I don’t really play thief that much) but whenever I get stopped by guards for a crime they say I’ve been killing livestock. picking a lock? -> livestock dead; attacking a citizen -> watch out, livestock! (this one has some sweet irony to it if you think about serfdom). I think you get the picture.
It’s not really a problem since I rarely do anything crime related on my saves (unless necessary) but it is a clear bug.