Heidi arrived in June, 2014. She arrived in a trailer with three other sheep who were desperate for a home. Heidi is a Suffolk and is just beautiful. She had lived most of her life on a farm in Kyneton, Victoria and was kept specifically for breeding. The small Suffolk sheep breeders no longer wanted to breed sheep, they wanted to start breeding Alpacas and if a home couldn’t be found for these four Suffolks, they were to be sent to slaughter.

After four years of having lambs and watching them be sold and taken away from her, Heidi was no longer wanted. Luckily for her, her new home required nothing of her. We required nothing but her happiness.

Heidi is an utterly beautiful ewe. She is friendly and so affectionate. She walks up to us and asks for pats constantly. She walks around contently and everyone loves her.

She is getting on in age and has become partially blind within the last year and has also started feeling the effects of arthritis. She is helped along by pain relief and lots of special attention from us. Leader of the sheep gang, Righty, is also getting older but he makes a real effort to stick with Heidi and lead her around the property. He is her knight in shining armour.

To be able to retire after a lifetime of giving birth is a privilege not many ewes get. Most are sent straight to the abattoir. Heidi is lucky, yet we are luckier to know such a big hearted sheep full  of love for everyone.

Please don’t use my images without permission. All images are Copyright Tamara Kenneally

She was found wandering alone on the Hume Highway near Benalla on the 4th of June, 2015. Found as a newborn with her umbilical cord hanging and little legs shaking, she was picked up by a good hearted person and dropped to our vets in town. With no sheep farms on either side of that part of the highway and no ewe in sight, the person who scooped her up to safety and the vet staff presumed she had fallen off a sheep transport truck, more than likely whilst the truck was stopped at a nearby rest stop. The Hume Highway is the corridor for animals being sent to abattoirs in North Victoria. This is where Banjo’s mother would have been headed. Banjo’s mother would have been on a packed truck, given birth on the truck, been unloaded off the truck and been slaughtered that night at the abattoir. Life isn’t pretty for  an animal who is seen as food.

Whilst this tiny, newborn lamb was waiting at the vets, we were called and asked if we would like to take her. Two days earlier, J had made the decision to have his 17 year old Jack Russell, Buster, put to sleep because of his deteriorating health and the air was heavy with sadness and grief. He said down the phone, “we’ll just think about it” and hung up. Twenty seconds later, he was back on the phone and I heard him say, “we’ll pick her up in the morning”.

We picked her up the next morning. The first thing she did when she got home was seek out Buster’s favourite old dog bed. She made herself comfortable and claimed it as her own.

A sweeter, more gentle, more loyal little bundle of pink and white couldn’t have been sent  to us at a more appropriate time. With a man grieving for his beloved dog, this little lady may have just been sent to help him through. Banjo is very affectionate and loves a cuddle. On the second day I found J giving Banjo a cuddle on the deck. I heard him quietly mumble to himself, “heaven sent”. Maybe she just was…

As Banjo grows up, you can follow her life as a loved sheep in the slideshow below.

Please don’t use my images without permission. All images are Copyright Tamara Kenneally

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A one year $50 sponsorship helps keep Banjo healthy and happy.

It ensures Banjo has the best quality supplementary feed and vet care available to her at all times.

YOUR ONE YEAR SPONSORSHIP ENTITLES YOU TO:

*One sponsorship certificate.

*Three 5×7 inch prints of Banjo being the gorgeous pink and white sweetheart she is.

*An email from Banjo during the year letting you know what she’s been up to.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO BELOW TO SPONSOR BANJO