At Farm Sanctuary, Holly lives the life that each sheep deserves: one the place her wants are met, her individuality is well known, and he or she enjoys the consolation of friendship. Regardless of all the things she has endured, she is among the fortunate ones. Greater than 2 million sheep are slaughtered within the U.S. every year, typically after they’re nonetheless very younger. But, even survivors like Holly can carry lasting scars from exploitation and neglect. Holly’s previous has formed the remainder of her life—but it surely by no means outlined her.
Holly was pregnant when her foot turned trapped in an electrical fence on a wool farm. She had struggled for hours to flee the excruciating ache when the farmer heard her cries and freed her. Quickly afterward, Holly suffered a uterine prolapse. Weeks later, she went into labor. One in every of her lambs died shortly after delivery, and Holly turned very sick, leaving the farm proprietor with few reasonably priced choices. In a last-ditch effort to avoid wasting Holly’s life, the proprietor contacted Farm Sanctuary.
As quickly as Holly got here into our care, we rushed her to a veterinarian. An ultrasound revealed a heartbreaking shock: Holly had been carrying a second lamb, who had died in utero and brought on her sickness. Holly underwent an ovariohysterectomy, the complete elimination of her reproductive organs.
Throughout Holly’s slate of medical exams, the veterinarian additionally found that her injured leg had been damaged and had developed a extreme an infection after receiving improper therapy following the fence incident. Regardless of each effort to put it aside, the broken portion of the leg needed to be amputated.
However Holly proved to be extremely resilient. She recovered from her surgical procedures with out ever dropping her cheerful spirit. As we speak, Holly comfortably makes use of her cart for as much as eight hours a day, and new changes are already within the works to assist her keep lively even longer.