Hattie, Stevie and Gabriel, the rescued lambs

Hattie, Stevie and Gabriel are living in a very special place, The Retreat Animal Sanctuary in Kent.

They arrived here as they were orphaned at birth, and the farmer contacted a rescuer to come and get them, as without personalised care and specialised feed, they wouldn't survive.

Gabriel is almost blind, though as long as he is calm he manages to navigate his way around his field and enclosure, and he and Hattie have bonded well. Stevie had health issues on and off when she was younger, though is doing much better now, and Hattie was very sick when she was young. I met Hattie when she was 5 days old, as she was very little, and was struggling to get strong. We fostered her for a week, giving her 24 hr care, lots of love, cuddles and specialised lamb milk. She ate every 2 hours! When she was 9 days old we rushed her to the vets after she collapsed and went unconscious on my lap. She had a nasty infection in her lungs...sadly very common, and a raging temperature. She is a strong fighter and pulled through.

I'm lucky that I get to see her often, and watch her grow up and form lifelong bonds with Gabriel and Stevie

Did you know sheep can live until they are 20 years old! Yet in the sheep farming industry they are only allowed to live until they are 6 - 7 months old

These three beautiful lambs are the lucky ones, and as are all the non human animals at the Retreat, they are the ambassadors of their kind. They enable humans to 'see' them, for the beings who they are. For us to see their characters blossom, and to make the connection from them to the other animals who are enslaved in the animal agriculture industry

As I write this I worked out Hattie is 147 days, 21 weeks, just over 5 months old!

She has grown into her ears and her love hearts on her knees! 😍