A Sentience Article from All-Creatures.org



Personalities Expressed in Four Sheeps' Faces

From Sandra Higgins, Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary
August 2023

Each and every one of the animals we breed and slaughter are as complex and unique as we are and they share our fundamental rights not to be owned, used or killed. Be vegan. 

four unique Sheep
Photo: Agatha Kisiel Photography

You can see the very different personalities in the faces of each of these sheep.

From let to right:

Larry has an angelic, beautiful face that belies his trouble maker nature. He is always the first to puck a person or a fence, especially if he sees a stranger behind it. We have to reorganise half the sanctuary to protect goats, deers and other sheep from Larry.

Lizzie was such a fragile little lamb that we feared she wouldn't make it. But she has grown into a strong, personable girl. She loves to push the complete weight of her body into our legs, asking for attention and telling us how much she appreciates us. When Krishna joined their group after the loss of his pal, Ben, he was very much a loner until Lizzie took him under her wing.

Mamou is one of the slaughterhouse group. We had no idea she was pregnant when she arrived. She gave birth to Ruth and Jane and has remained devoted to them ever since. Interestingly, she fed her lambs for almost a year after birth. I think this shows the depth of the bond that we separate between mother and child when we take young lambs from their mothers and slaughter them for their flesh. Mamou has a very quiet, gentle nature.

Krishna is one of the special ones at Eden. He arrived not long after birth in 2015 because his mother was dying and unable to care for him.

Lamb Krishna
Krishna as a lamb...

He was quite ill himself with enteritis and it took a lot of effort to nurse him back to health. He has never looked back since. He is a gentle sheep and has quite a sensitive character. He doesn't make sheep friends too easily but when he does he is a friend for life. He remains very attached to us. Whenever he sees us walking around the sanctuary, even if we are quite a distance away, he calls to us.

 

Every individual sheep who is bred, sold, and slaughtered, has a unique personality just like Larry, Lizzie, Mamou and Krishna. Like us, they feel and value their lives. We should never have regarded them, or any other animal, as our property or resources. They are as complex and unique as we are and they share our fundamental rights not to be owned, used or killed. Be vegan.


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