Disabled lamb gets off-road wheelchair

NationalWorld.com

An adorable lamb left disabled in a freak farming accident is back on her hooves after learning to use an off-road wheelchair.  Rosy, a one-year-old Suffolk breed, broke her back leg while gamboling in a field and lay undiscovered for hours overnight.  While lying hidden from view a crow pecked one of her eyes out and she was attacked by another unknown animal in June.  Her broken leg healed incorrectly and she was left unable to stand properly so was taken to The Rescue Ranch in Hatton, Warks., for help.  Ranch manager Susan Franks, 53, was concerned Rosy was unable to graze so fitted her with wheels.

Transcript

00:00 I'm Susan Franks and I run the Rescue Ranch and this is my partner.

00:13 And I help run the Rescue Ranch, I'm Julian Amos.

00:17 And we've been doing this feat of, I don't know what it is.

00:22 Rescue and...

00:23 Yeah, for 27 years, I think.

00:24 We were told that she could walk a little bit and she'd had her eye pecked out and she

00:38 needed help.

00:39 The farm worker asked if she could come to a sanctuary and get the care that she needed.

00:59 She was a little worse than we thought.

01:02 When she arrived, she got maggots in her feet, which is a common thing in summer.

01:06 You know, fly strike happens to sheep in the summer and it's a thing you've got to be on

01:12 top of all the time and be vigilant over.

01:16 But she'd had a broken leg that had fused badly, so she needed...

01:20 It obviously got infected as well.

01:22 But she couldn't walk on any of her legs because all four legs were useless at the time.

01:28 We've been exercising every day with one of these wheels.

01:31 They're dog wheels, really.

01:33 Yeah, they're made for dogs that have lost their use of their wheel legs.

01:41 But they work great for Rosie.

01:43 We're just about to modify them because they're having larger wheels all the way around there.

01:48 So she can get over the long grass.

01:51 Yeah.

01:52 There we go.

01:55 Find that one.

01:58 That's it.

02:01 Come on.

02:04 Come on.

02:07 Good girl.

02:10 Yay!

02:12 Come on.

02:15 Come on, Rosie.

02:18 Come on.

02:21 You're not trying.

02:24 Come on.

02:25 There we go.

02:26 Yay!

02:27 Since she's been using them, her front legs are now really good.

02:28 Yes.

02:29 Very strong.

02:30 She's now got the strength back in her front legs, which she hadn't got when she arrived.

02:34 And she's only been here a month.

02:35 So in a month, she's gained the use of her front legs.

02:38 And her back ones are getting stronger.

02:40 And we've now, since having x-rays done-- the vet came last Friday to x-ray her-- the

02:47 physio now knows what she's working with.

02:49 And she's prepared to do some physio with her on a weekly basis.

02:52 So hopefully, these wheels are only temporary.

02:54 And we can get her--

02:55 She's looking quite bright, isn't she?

02:56 Yeah.

02:57 She's looking unaided soon.

03:07 We don't take any money for ourselves.

03:09 As long as we can get vet bills, which are our biggest costs.

03:12 If we can get help towards that and things that are desperately needed, that's usually

03:16 our biggest aim.

03:17 Winter's on the way.

03:18 And there's hay in the straw and--

03:19 Feed and everything.

03:20 --feed and everything.

03:21 It always gets far more expensive in the winter to do this.

03:24 And it's a struggle.

03:25 It is sometimes.

03:26 But it's so rewarding.

03:27 Yeah.

03:28 Because the therapy that you feel just from being around them is priceless, really.

03:34 And seeing them get better.

03:35 And when they look up into your face and they give you that look of trust and love that

03:39 they didn't have when they arrived, some of them, it's the biggest reward ever.

03:45 [INAUDIBLE]

03:47 [INAUDIBLE]

03:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended