Rescued Animals - the lucky ones

A Story of ‘Courage.’

An escape from a journey of death.

In August 2006, Animals’ Angels received a call asking if we were interested in taking a sheep which had been pulled out of the water 2 days before. The very young sheep had been rescued from the Port of Fremantle WA harbour right next to where live animal ships berth when loading live sheep for the animal export trade.

This particular sheep had escaped from a sheep transport truck and ran off the side of the berth into the water. We think she may have swam to the rocks under the berth and stayed all night only to be sucked out into the water when the Al Kuwait ship, she was supposed to be loaded onto, moved from the side of the wharf to travel to the Middle East.

We collected the sheep- a small female with a yellow tag in her ear indicating she was born in 2005. Barely a year old, heavily pregnant, and yet so light, I was able to scoop her up and carry her back to the car.

Her ordeal had left her so exhausted she was happy to lay in the back with me. With her head being cradled in my hands she fell asleep almost immediately.

She was taken to a veterinarian and was given cream for her eye and an antibiotic injection to assist the large cut on her leg to heal. We think this deep cut had come as a result of being pushed against rocks at the port. Because we were not sure how long she had been in the water, she could easily succumb to pneumonia and so we would watch her over the next few days.

The Government animal welfare authorities were immediately notified of the sheep.

We wanted to name her. Not only because of the entire trauma she had endured but to remind us all that she is an individual animal with feelings and thoughts and very capable of suffering.

Her name is “Courage”.

    4 days after her rescue from the water at the port.

Over the next few days, Courage developed Aspiration Pneumonia. She had swallowed salt water; there was mucous flowing from her nose and she had laboured breathing. She was treated with antibiotics for over a week and during that time the pneumonia eased, which was a great sign. We finally took her off the medication, but she still wasn’t eating well and her weight loss caused us considerable worry.

She developed an inner ear infection which didn’t respond to the same antibiotics used for the deep wound on her leg. The medication was altered. We used a cleansing solution to flush the wound on her leg, the pneumonia was all but gone, her eye was returning to normal and within days of the treatment for the ear infection she began to eat – cause for celebration. Just when she seemed to have turned the corner,  her wool began to fall out in large clumps. This is a typical sign of having been under immense stress.

Courage now resides at her permanent home with four other females and two sterilised rams.  She is healthy, has grown back her wool coat, and is feisty and self assured.

This sheep has survived to show the most amazing and unbeatable inner strength despite her horrendous ordeal.  She has endured unbelievable trauma yet her spirit has remained staunch.  Courage is “one hell of a sheep”.


She has inspired us to continue our fight to secure humane and respectful treatment of all animals.

This photo was taken 3 months after her rescue. Her wool has grown back and she has put on weight.

This case has reached a standstill and those who were responsible will never be brought to account. The authorities were unable to prove who had sold her to the live exporter and were unable/unwilling to prove just who was responsible for the breach of both State legislation and the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (ASEL) regulations.
 
We are convinced that Courage would not have been the only pregnant sheep to be transported to the port for live export that day, or indeed any other day for that matter. There is virtually no routine and or consistent monitoring, policing and inspecting of animals on farms, at saleyards from which Courage was bought, or at feedlots to ensure compliance to both the state transport legal requirements and national live export regulations. As a result, more animals unfit for transport will be transported and delivered for slaughter or live export.

The ram, four ewes and one ‘pet sheep’.

It is not often that an opportunity will present itself which allows an animal to be saved from their inevitable date with death. I don’t know why no one wanted the 4 young ewes in a sale pen at a small market. Perhaps it was because they had been underfed and in poor condition. One sheep had an eye infection and they all looked thin. Inside the same pen with the ewes was an ‘ex pet’ ram and a ‘pet’ young male lamb. This four month old lamb had been led into the sale area on a lead by a woman who decided she didn’t want her ‘pet’ any more.

As the sale progressed the ram was sold to a buyer but no one wanted the 4 female sheep. Animals’ Angels did. We also wanted the young lamb and saved him too. By some small miracle the owner of the saleyard called us because the buyer of the ram didn’t collect his sheep and would we take him.  No hesitation. It was meant to be.

Life is good for the six sheep. They have loads of feed and other sheep to bond with.

But perhaps most importantly they have a carer who loves them and so ensures they have every chance to live their lives in peace and freedom.

 


 

 

2005- Two sheep in a cage:

Animals’ Angels managed to talk the person responsible for caging two sheep into letting us take them from his private property to a safe and permanent home. The person did not have the fencing in place to allow the animals to run freely so caged them.

Not long after this rescue, the local govt authority called Animals’ Angels asking if we could take three sheep from a property as the person responsible was unable to keep them. Of course we did so and they live with the two ex ‘caged’ sheep we rescued before.