Katy spent the first eight years of her life being bred repeatedly to have lambs that would be used in a 4-H program. In those years, she gave birth to seven sets of twins and two single lambs. Each one of her babies was taken away from her as a baby and raised by a young 4-H member, and after being shown at the conclusion of the program, each was then sent to auction and eventual slaughter — a fate that Katy herself was destined for once her breeding days were over.
At eight years of age, Katy would no longer produce any more lambs, and her fate seemed to be sealed. Being sent to auction seemed inevitable — until a kind person stepped in and changed her life forever. A compassionate woman asked that she be given the chance to find Katy a forever home instead of sending her to auction, and the farmer agreed that if a home could be found, he would spare Katy’s life.
Katy enjoying a sunny day in the pasture. (Photo by Claude Roy.)
After an exhaustive and frustrating search, her rescuer reached
out to Farm Sanctuary, and we immediately agreed to provide Katy the forever
home she needed and deserved.
We could never make up for Katy’s eight years of heartache, but
at Farm Sanctuary, we immediately set to work making sure that sure she had
everything she could ever need from that point forward — including a new family
of “sheeple.” Katy loves her sheep family, and is never far from the center of
the herd; she prefers to be in the middle of whatever everyone else is doing.
She loves to be surrounded by her family.
Katy has also grown to love her “humanimal” family. She recently
grew extremely close to Farm Sanctuary intern Claude Roy, who spent his
afternoons and many of his days off hanging out with the sheep. During his internship, Claude formed especially close bonds with Katy and one of her flockmates, Colvin. At the conclusion of his internship, Claude took a
special memento with him: He assisted with sheep shearing and kept a
small piece of Katy’s wool to always remember her by. “I have some of Katy’s wool next to my bed and
I kiss it every day,” Claude says.
And Claude is not alone in being touched by Katy and her loving personality; she has an effect on almost everyone she meets. Her friendly personality and loving demeanor are like a magnet to the staff, interns, and visitors of Farm Sanctuary. She’s always one of the first sheep to run up to visitors in the barn, and will even sometimes paw at their legs — encouraging them to give her a nice back scratch.
Katy is an amazing girl who now has the amazing life she deserves — all because a caring person put compassion first. We are privileged to work with this very special sheep on a daily basis, striving to make her life as rich, happy, and fulfilling as possible.
Please share Katy’s story. Together, we can encourage awareness and understanding about the rich emotional lives of sheep like her. With your support, we can continue to promote compassionate vegan living through rescue, education, and advocacy efforts. A compassionate world begins with you!
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