A Blessing for Sadbh
Animal Stories from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Eden Farm Animal Sanctuary
May 2015

[And read Willow and Sadbh: A Sacred Bond...]

Eden has a no-breeding policy, retaining resources for rescue rather than bringing new lives into the world. In this instance nothing could be done and this week Willow gave birth to two beautiful babies. Her son died within minutes of his birth despite our desperate attempts to resuscitate him. Sadbh, her firstborn, and by far the smaller of the two, Sadbh, lived.....Willow is an excellent mother. She has a voice that I have never heard before that she only uses when communicating with Sadbh.

The sacred bonds we desecrate when we are not vegan.

Sadbh's first hour on earth

Sadbh’s (pronounced Sive) arrival at Eden was unexpected and unplanned. Her presence is nonetheless welcome. Every resident arrives to teach us something about the minds and lives of other animals. Already Sadbh is proving a remarkable teacher. Here is her story.

For more than a year Eden has been subject to visits from neglected dogs. They were lovely dogs, half Labrador half Rottweiler. Regardless, dogs cannot be welcomed on a sanctuary that is also home to sheep and birds. With the help of a local rescue, homes were found for the dogs in the UK. However, their guardian refused to consent to let more than one dog go. The remaining three dogs kept returning, to Eden and to farms in the vicinity. Eventually they chased and killed so many lambs and sheep that they were shot by local farmers. This tragedy is entirely attributable to the negligence of the dog’s guardian.

On three occasions at Christmas and New Year last year they chased sheep through the fields to Eden. In their terror the sheep broke fences and took refuge here. Thankfully the residents at Eden are never left unsupervised so no harm was inflicted on the residents here.

However, on one of those occasions Willow became pregnant. Her pregnancy was only discovered a few weeks ago.

Eden has a no-breeding policy, retaining resources for rescue rather than bringing new lives into the world. In this instance nothing can be done. This week Willow gave birth to two beautiful babies. Her son died within minutes of his birth despite our desperate attempts to resuscitate him. Sadbh, her firstborn, and by far the smaller of the two, lived.

Willow right after giving birth to Sadbh

Sadbh’s life gives us the opportunity to witness those precious moments after birth that are shared by mothers and their infants regardless of species. This is the sacred bond that we desecrate when we are not vegan.

Willow is an excellent mother. She has a voice that I have never heard before that she only uses when communicating with Sadbh. From the hour of her birth she has kept a watchful eye, tenderly nudging her to encourage her to drink her milk, and staying by her side at all times.

Sadbh meets the sheep people at Eden.

Her arrival may have been unplanned but that does not diminish her welcome presence. Already, less than a week since her birth, we have an empathic sense of the fierce adoration that Willow feels for her. That every animal feels for her child. And so let us offer this blessing for Sadbh’s life.

---

A Beannacht for Sadbh

John O'Donohue
(To Bless the Space Between Us, Doubleday Press, March 2008)  

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

---

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