During June of 2012, we received a phone call from a mother whose daughter had become involved in a 4-H project to raise a female “bummer” lamb (born to a sick, dead or rejecting mother). The newborn lamb had been given to her daughter from a sheep meat producer who pastured sheep behind their property.
The mother explained her teenage daughter had lost interest in the full-grown lamb which had also become a nuisance to their family as it was difficult to keep it from entering their house. The lamb had totally identified with the family dog and was fed a steady diet of dry dog food.
It was apparent that the lamb had an uncertain future and possibly would be returned to the sheep producer. Under the circumstances, we made a decision to take her home, named her Miranda Lambert and she can now live out her life.
“We consume the carcasses of creatures of like appetites, passions and organs with our own, and fill the slaughterhouses daily with screams of pain and fear.”
— Robert Louis Stevenson
