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Car accident saves Jamie the lamb from slaughter

Caroline Lowbridge
BBC News, East Midlands
Brinsley Animal Rescue Jamie the lamb sitting on some grassBrinsley Animal Rescue
Jamie is thought to be about a month old

A lamb has been saved from slaughter after escaping and being hit by a car.

Jamie is currently paralysed in his rear legs but Brinsley Animal Rescue hopes he will make a recovery and then be rehomed as a pet.

He might have to use a wheelchair if he does not regain the use of his legs but the Nottinghamshire-based team said he would still be able to live a long and happy life.

Lambs are normally slaughtered when they are about six months old.

"All the signs at the moment are positive," said Jon Beresford, who runs the rescue centre.

"There's no spinal damage, and he has got reflexes in both those back legs.

"With physiotherapy and with time he stands a realistic chance of recovery."

Brinsley Animal Rescue Jamie the lamb in some grass with one of his back legs stretched outBrinsley Animal Rescue
Jamie is currently paralysed in his back legs but rescuers hope this is temporary

The centre was contacted on Friday by vets in Sheffield, where Jamie had been taken after his accident.

Jamie did not have a tag on his ear, meaning the farmer could not be traced.

"The people who found the lamb tried to find where he had come from but he was nowhere near any fields," said Mr Beresford.

The vets X-rayed Jamie but could not find any major internal issues, so they asked Brinsley Animal Rescue to take him on.

Specialist vets have now examined Jamie and it is thought his paralysis might be caused by a displaced lumbar disc, or a burst blood vessel, either of which could be pushing on the sciatic nerve.

Lotus Lamb and Sheep Sanctuary Hope the Wiltshire horn sheep standing in a field with her wheelchairLotus Lamb and Sheep Sanctuary
Disabled sheep - like this one in West Sussex - can live happy and active lives with the help of wheelchairs, Mr Beresford said

"Because the lamb is still young and still growing, he can recover from both of those," Mr Beresford said.

"If Jamie makes a full recovery we will rehome him as a pet, to live with other sheep."

Mr Beresford said there were also rescue centres that had disabled lambs who "live amazing lives in wheelchairs and still fly around".

Brinsley Animal Rescue itself has a number of disabled former farm animals, including a blind cow and a cow with a jaw deformity who struggles to eat.

"People feel sorry for them but that challenge has saved their lives," said Jon.

"Similarly, Jamie would have been killed and on somebody's plate in another three or four months.

"Now he's hopefully going to live the rest of his life free."

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