Our fivelegged lamb!
An extraordinary baby sheep arrives at the surgery...
Peter Wright has treated animals for decades and trained under world famous vet James Herriot, but he gets a shock when a five-legged lamb arrives at his practice this week!
Katy, a young vet at Peter’s Skeldale Veterinary Centre in North Yorkshire, owns the baby sheep and is determined to operate on the animal, named ‘Fiver’ due to its extra limb, herself.
‘I’ve never done anything like this before,’ says Katy. ‘I’m a bit nervous, but it’s really important to get the surgery done quickly and return Fiver to her mother, because if we don’t there’s a chance she’ll reject her.’
Baffled
Peter agrees to let Katy perform the operation, but only under the gaze of his experienced partner Julian Norton, who is also baffled by the lamb’s extra limb.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this before,’ says Julian. ‘The little lamb seems fine with it now, but when she grows up the leg will hinder her. We don’t want to damage her other legs so it will be a tricky surgery. It’s the most unusual amputation I’ve ever done.’
While Julian and Katy prepare for surgery, Peter treats a Yorkshire terrier with a severe condition and chases a peacock on a housing estate.
When he returns to the practice, he is relieved to learn that
Fiver survived her operation.
‘We were worried because she started breathing erratically at one point,’ says Katy. ‘We knew we had to get her sewn up fast, and thankfully she pulled through okay.’