Driving home from town this afternoon I saw a sheep down in a paddock. As usual I stopped and went to check. Sadly the sheep was dead and had been for a few days .. her eyes and part of her face were gone. But the strange thing was that she was covered in white powder. It looked like (and was) lime. I have heard of lime being put on bodies when buried to reduce pathogens and smell but not directly on an animal corpse in a paddock. I walked back to the fence sad that there was noting I could do for her. As I got to the fence I saw another body covered in lime a bit further along. There was also blood on her face. As I got near I saw her eye had been picked at - most likely by crows. Sadly again I was too late. The bag of lime was just over the fence under a bush. Obviously the farmer expected more. There were about 100 sheep with some lambs in the paddock. About to move on I thought I saw the tiniest movement of this sheeps jaw. I watched and looked closer .. she was breathing .. she was alive. This bastard has left her to rot in a paddock - covered her with burning lime and SHE WAS ALIVE! She was breathing but it was shallow .. and it appeared that her right eye had been picked out ... she had probably been there more than a day. And the weather has been cold and wet here lately. I was very angry ,,, but my priority was this sheep who I called Beauty. I carried her to the fence - climbed over and put her in the back of my ute which was full of animal feed. We went straight to our vet who is only about 5km back along the road. After telling our vet what had happened I asked that he do two things. Firstly confirm that Beauty was alive and secondly put her to rest. She was barely alive and extremely thin. He agreed with both and went to get the injection. That gave me a few minutes with Beauty and I gently put my finger in her mouth to see how cold she was ... not too cold. She also started nibbling on my finger as if she was trying to drink. As the vet returned I asked if we could try and save her as she still had some life left in her and to die this way was just not fair. He said we could try but her chances were slim ... less than ten percent. So we tried for Beauty. Together with his wonderful nurse they inserted an IV into Beautys jugular vein. They gave her fluids, antibiotics, pain relief and anti-inlammatories. We also found that her right eye was still there ... but the tissues around had been pulled and damaged. Our caring vet trimmed the damaged tissue and applied eye ointment. Armed With further supplies we headed home with Beauty in the back covered in an old blanket and her V bag tied to the ute roll bar. it was now up to Beauty. At home by the fire she seemed to settle. Even drinking from some saline from a small squirt bottle. She relaxed and she slept ... snoring at times. The next four hours were her last. She died an hour ago as I write this through tears falling onto the keyboard. Beauty died as we expected she would. But she died warm ... and loved ... and free from pain and fear. She is grieved and her passing is marked and witnessed by all who read this. And you tears wash the blood from this gentle girls face. Tomorrow Beauty will join the host of angels buried down at Strawberry corner ... beautiful animals who have passed and will help her on her way. And tomorrow I will start the search for the man responsible for her terrible treatment .. will call the authorities but i dont expect them to do much. He did break the law in failing to either put down or seek medical care for a sick animal. But that will be easily defended by claiming he thought she was dead. Well she is gone now .. and loved .. and remembered. Goodbye darling darling Beauty. Love love love
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 09:18:25 +0000
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