Aniimal Rescue with Marion Garnett
Dedicated animal expert Marion Garnett, founder of the Ealing Animal Charities Fair, continues her column
IN recent days, a consistent news story has emerged – the story of Norman, the lamb. Norman was born in Western Scotland, to a crofter who kept a few animals.
When Norman was born, he was the weakest of triplets and had trouble feeding. Melanie, his kind owner, was continually with him for the first 48 hours helping him get on his feet. As he grew, Norman was a happy lamb enjoying Melanie’s affection – even though she knew they didn’t keep the boys.
The day came to sell Norman and, despite Melanie’s heavy heart, Norman was sold at market.
Two weeks passed and Melanie tried to forget Norman but couldn’t. So, with some trepidation, she decided to try and get him back. She tracked him down to a farm on the other side of Scotland.
On arrival at the farm, and seeing hundreds of lambs in the field, Melanie expected finding Norman to be difficult.
But, on stepping out of the truck, wearing the pink hat she wore at home, to her astonishment, a lamb immediately ran towards her “like a bullet”.
She had never seen a lamb run so fast before. It was Norman – she scooped him up and took him home.
This is a wonderful story for Norman. But it’s also a reminder that one of the reasons many people are decreasing their consumption of animal produce is because of the growing realisation that animals who are sentient and capable of suffering can, with modern farming methods, have a grim life and death. If you would like to know more about relying less on animal produce, Vegfest (with 370 stalls and 150 speakers) takes place at Olympia on October 26 and 27. Details from london.vegfest.co.uk.
Now let’s meet a gorgeous family who also need someone to say “let’s go home”. This Mum and her kittens came into the care of Hounslow Animal Welfare Society (HAWS) when the kittens were three weeks old. The kittens, Major Tom, China Girl and Hermione are now 16 weeks old and friendly. The mother – Ziggy Stardust – is currently living in a separate foster home as, although she tried hard to be a good mum, she is only young herself and was getting stressed.
Some white cats can be prone to deafness and HAWS have been vigilant for this but they do not, at present, think these cats are deaf. If you would like to home one or two of this lovely family, call 020 8560 5443 or see haws-animals.org.uk.