Rest in Peace - The Hoofprints on Our Hearts
If an animal dies at the Black Sheep, we dig a deep hole at the far edge of the goat paddock, and plant a tree as a memorial. Standing by the grave you can hear the calls of the ducks and the gutteral conversations of sheep and goats. The cadence of sanctuary life, of feeds and cuddles, continues around them. At night there's the dense country darkness. Long grass grows between the saplings, and the goats push their heads through the wire fence to grab sly mouthfuls. When the end comes, we miss the loving, mysterious, sometimes cantankerous creatures who lived with us. Death comes for all of us. Though the pawprints and hoofmarks our friends left on the earth are long since trodden over, they remain imprinted on our hearts. |
Our lovely Bartholomew is a beautiful boy who was destined for the slaughterhouse but was luckily rescued. His original caregiver could no longer look after him, so we gave him a home at the Black Sheep!
After ten happy years at the sanctuary Bartholomew's arthritis rapidly worsened and sadly we had to euthanise him. Though we tried our best with medication, he eventually lost interest in food and was struggling to stand up. He likely had some other age related issues going on as well such as decreased organ function so that certainly would have contributed to him declining as well. Bartholomew was such a wonderful, loving, special sheep. We know his sponsors really loved him and so did we! RIP 2023 |
Dorris and her brother Horace were rescued as tiny piglets from a factory farm in October 2011. She grew into a very playful, inquisitive and friendly pig, who appeared to thoroughly enjoy life at the sanctuary - especially whenever food was involved! Sadly, long white pigs are bred to grow unnaturally large, putting enormous strain on their joints and affecting their health. Dorris was eventually euthanised after suffering an injury that affected her mobility and quality of life. She lived a very long and happy life for a pig her size and she will be greatly missed.
RIP 2022 |