Dog Attack Sheep Defends Her Baby

Brave mother sheep defends her baby from vicious dog attack... Today Victorian Lamb Rescue were called out to an attend an urgent situation. Several sheep on a property had been attacked by roaming dogs and the fate of one very badly injured ewe was in our hands. Several dogs entered the property in the middle of the night and set upon the small flock of sheep in a frenzy. They had killed before on several neighbouring properties and had made a sport of it. The dogs chased and bit several sheep, leaving them with multiple punctures and lacerations before they turned their sights on a ewe with lamb at foot. In an attempt to save her baby from being fatally attacked she hid her behind and tried to fend them off. She stood her ground and fought but she was outnumbered and her stomping and charging was no match for their gnashing teeth. She was viciously mauled... but she had succeeded. Her baby was untouched. Her wounds were difficult to assess completely under her thick wool but immediately we could see there were multiple gaping wounds along her side, her ear and eyelid were torn and her left front leg was shredded, exposing tendons and severing a large artery. She had lost a lot of blood and was in a world of pain. The ewe had been surrendered to us to help her but we asked if we could take her lamb too. After all she had been through, the loss of her lamb would be devastating and we felt she would fight harder to stay alive if they remained together. The farmer agreed that this would be her best hope and we rushed her to our after hours vet for life saving emergency surgery. She was very brave. As she lay immobile on the cold floor with IV fluids and pain relief in her system she watched to make sure her lamb was nearby. We placed the baby in a snuggle bed next to her and she relaxed. Several times during the surgery she appeared to fade out of conciousness and we feared the worst but her baby would stir and she would muster up the strength to stay with us. She had been severely mauled. Her body was literally covered with bite wounds, punctures and lacerations. The vet stitched the 4 largest wounds closed and attempted to repair her damaged leg before applying a support bandage to help hold it together and reduce inflammation. Other wounds were cleaned up and assessed. When the surgery was over we encouraged her to stand. She was reluctant but when we picked up her lamb to walk to a clean pen she got up and walked with us!! Incredible!! Once in the pen she stood and checked her baby over and then quietly nibbled on some hay while her lamb suckled and wiggled her little tail with joy. What an amazingly beautiful mother she is!! Both mum and bubs will be staying with the vet for a few days for monitoring as her skin was terribly damaged and she will potentially need further stitches in the most affected areas and also treatment for her eye, ear and other minor wounds. We are unsure what her vet fees and ongoing care costs will amount to but we have nominated $800 at this time as a conservative estimate. We are a small non profit organisation with many injured and special needs animals in our care at any time. All donations will go directly towards vet fees, bandages and medications. Thank you for your generous support!!