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Five farmers rally to save 'world's loneliest sheep' who spent 2 years stranded by herself

A wonderful story of humans helping animals.

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Fiona the sheep had been stranded for two years all by herself.

Sheep are hardy, resilient animals. Depending on the breed, they thrive in the driest of desserts and snowiest of planes. But being highly social animals, one thing they cannot tolerate is isolation. Unfortunately, isolation was a long reality for poor Fiona, a sheep who spent more than two years in solitude at the bottom of a cliff in Scotland.

Dubbed Britain's, then the world’s “loneliest sheep,” Fiona had become something of a local legend—first spotted by a kayaker in 2021, and then again two years later, not malnourished and in good condition, but with badly overgrown fleece and in need of a good shearing.

How exactly Fiona became stuck at the bottom of a cliff was a mystery. But hauling her out was an even more confounding problem.

Despite over 50,000 people signing a petition to rescue Fiona, the Scottish SPCA called the safety logistics “incredibly complex” due to the terrain being so inaccessible, not to mention any human interaction likely causing extreme stress for the stranded rescuee.

That’s when a group of five farmers—including sheep farmer and BBC presenter Cammy Wilson, and YouTube star Graeme Parker— took things into their own hands.

With a whole lotta rope and a whole lotta patience, the team successfully found Fiona in a cave (a little overweight, perhaps eating her lonely feelings a bit) and hoisted her up the steep cliff to safety.

Watch the harrowing resc-ewe mission below. Gotta say, the drone footage makes it look even more epic.

Fiona was then taken to Dalscone Farm Fun in Dumfries, Scotland—a new forever home, where her new owner, Ben Best, dubbed her healthy and relaxed, even if she “could lose a few pounds.”

Though animal rights activists did show concern with Fiona’s new living situation, likening it closer to a “petting zoo” than the sanctuary she deserved, Best affirmed that was not the case, saying, "It's effectively a farm where people can go and visit the animals, but they don't go in amongst the animals.”

He also added that she would be kept away from the public eye for five-to-six months, and not step into the limelight until she’s ready for it.

In 2024, Best gave the world a much-needed update on Fiona's wellbeing when he appeared on the Fed by Farmers Podcast. Spoiler alert: she's doing great. Watch her progress below:


- YouTube

This article originally appeared two years ago.

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animals
Pets

This adorable dog named Cow had the best reaction to reuniting with the family he'd lost

We really don't deserve dogs.

Louisiana SPCA

Cow and his family.

Dogs love their humans and have the best reaction when they return home, even if they just left to go to the mailbox. It’s happy tails and doggy kisses when you get back, so it’s heartbreaking when a pet actually gets separated from its family. Back in 2022, a dog named Cow found himself in just that predicament. Cow was somehow stolen from his family, according to the information received by Louisiana SPCA from the pooch’s family. The dog found his way to the animal shelter after being found tied to a fence outside the SPCA. Cow was afraid of his new surroundings at the shelter and it took him a while to warm up.

NeNe Lewis of the Louisiana SPCA told The Dodo “He was very fearful and would low growl when meeting new people. When he was given treats and people would ‘baby talk’ him, he would stop. Since he was found tied to our fence, it makes his reaction common.” VCA Hospitals report that “Fear- and anxiety-related aggression are commonly manifested in the veterinary hospital or in situations of social approach and handling. Dogs that display aggression are not mean or bad dogs. They are simply afraid/fearful and anxious/nervous about a perceived or anticipated threat or unpleasant outcome.”

In the case of Cow, it’s understandable why he would be displaying fearful aggression after being in a new environment away from the family he knows and loves. Cow began to relax in his new environment after being there a while as the staff members searched for a family to adopt the black and white pup. To Cow and the SPCA’s surprise, the perfect family was the one he was missing all along. In March, the shelter found out that Cow’s family had been frantically searching for their lost dog and were ecstatic to find out he was safe in the shelter.

Cow

Louisiana SPCA

While Cow had gotten used to his new people at the shelter, he was beyond excited when his owners showed up to take him home. He jumped off walls and his owner's back after lunging directly into her arms to be held like a baby. It’s clear that he missed his family and he was in his rightful place, right in their arms. The workers at the SPCA had never seen Cow so happy. Shelter life is generally hard on dogs, as they're constantly trying to protect their space from different people coming through. Dogs often become anxious when they're sheltered too long, always on alert and prone to panic, which is why Cow’s initial reaction is so common.

According to the ASPCA there are approximately 6.3 million pets in animal shelters across America right now, about 3.1 million of those are dogs. Each year more than 920,000 animals are euthanized, which is why the push to “adopt don’t shop” is so prevalent. While animals are in the care of shelters, they are looked after and treated by veterinarians until they are placed into a forever home or reunited with their family, which is always favorable over euthanization. More than 4.1 million shelter animals are adopted each year and around 810,000 of them are lucky enough to be reunited with their families, just like Cow.

If you’re interested in adopting a shelter animal, check out your local animal shelter or ASPCA.

This article originally appeared two years ago.

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dog adoption
Wellness

Sisters thought they were rescuing an injured dog, but ended up with 10 lovely pups instead

"To think that this sweet girl had been treated that way...I don't even want to think about someone hurting her on purpose."

Sarah Bauer/GoFundMe

It is hard to walk into a dog shelter without wanting to take them all home. In the case of Meghan Wedge and Sarah Bauer, one turned into ten—and quickly.

It all started outside Meghan's work in Dalton, GA. Some colleagues of hers came into the office and said that there was a dog badly injured in the parking lot just outside. As Wedge told PBS39, "As soon as she got up, she'd fall back down. When she did finally get up, you could see that she couldn't put her weight on her one back leg. I wanted to help her, so I started posting on social media, just asking if anyone was able to help this dog. I didn't want to call the pound on her. I was hoping to find her a home." That was when she made a phone call to her sister, Sarah Bauer, who lived in Quakertown, PA. At that moment, for the dog who would soon be named Izzy, things were about to change.

As Megan recalls, "Sarah was like: What if I take the dog? I said: Are you sure you want to do this? You don't know what you may be getting yourself into." But there was no talking Sarah out of it. They met in Virginia where Sarah met Izzy and took him home.

The first order of business for Sarah was to take Izzy to the vet. That was when she learned how bad the trauma that Izzy had suffered really was. "Because of Covid-19 and everything going on, I couldn't go into the vet with her, which was hard in itself," said Bauer. "The vet comes out to my car and tells me that her hip is dislocated, she has abrasions on her legs and that she was probably hit by a car. She also told me that she was hit by buckshot. At that point, I started tearing up. To think that this sweet girl had been treated that way...I don't even want to think about someone hurting her on purpose."


image.pbs.org

As Sarah pointed out to PBS39 on Izzy's X-rays, "The tiny white dots—that's the buckshot—all over her body. This is just showing her abdomen. I also picked a couple out of her ears, arms and legs." As expected, when Megan heard this from Sarah it was heartbreaking. "When Sarah told me all of that, I started crying," said Wedge. "I have a rescue dog myself, and she was abused before I got her. To me, dog is God spelled backwards. Dogs are angels. I think it's sickening that people would even think about hurting an animal."

So Izzy had been hit by a car and had buckshot all over her body, but there was one more discovery about to be made. Izzy was also pregnant.

"The vet told me that she found a heartbeat," said Bauer. "So, just to know that a little puppy was alive after everything that her mom went through, that was incredible!" The thing is, they were wrong. It would turn out not to be a heartbeat. It would turn out to be nine of them.

images.gofundme.com

"The vet tech came out and said: So, we don't just have a puppy, we have puppies! Do you want to guess how many? I said: Three or four? She said: Nine! I said: Nine puppies...that's crazy," said Bauer. "She's really come alive since the first time that I met her. I think the puppies really brought out the puppy in her. She manages pretty well, but I know that she's in discomfort every day, especially if she tries to go up or down steps or even just to run around with her puppies, she won't put weight on that leg. I just want her to have the best life, that's why I brought her home with me, I just want her to have a good life."

To assist Sarah with the vet bills of over $4,000, and to help her feed the nine new family members, you can go to the GoFundMe page that was created.

It certainly sounds like Izzy could not have landed in a better home than the one she shares with Sarah Bauer.


This article originally appeared on 8.29.20

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animals
Joy

Pit Bull rescued from high-kill shelter is running out of time to find a furever family

Let's help find Mara a home.

rockykanaka.com

Mara is a trained doggo looking for a family.

In December of 2022, a American Pit Bull Terrier named Mara was hours away from being euthanized at a high-kill shelter in Georgia. Rocky Kanaka shares that the one-year-old pup had been languishing in the shelter for over a month with no one showing interest in her until a rescue group called Braveheart Bulliez stepped in to save her.

Pit Bulls are often stereotyped and misunderstood, but Mara's rescuers saw past all of that. “As soon as we saw her photos, we knew we had to help,” Braveheart Bulliez’s founder Krystle Carrara shared with Rocky Kanaka. “She had the most soulful, trusting eyes.”

But Mara's rescue journey was just beginning.

Braveheart Bulliez had secured a foster home for her and hired a paid trainer to do in-home training, but within a few weeks the foster bailed without explanation. On top of that, two people who had agreed to sponsor Mara's rescue journey also bailed, so she was left high and dry with nowhere to go.

In January of 2023, Braveheart Bulliez sent Mara to a well-respected boarding and training program. She took to training like a champ, becoming a "phenomenal" leash walker and learning not to react to other dogs on leash. She was also muzzle trained to be with other dogs in doggy play time.

“She blew everyone away with how smart and willing to learn she was,” said Carrara.

dog with a tennis ball in her mouth

Mara loves her yellow tennis ball more than treats. Seriously.

rockykanaka.com

However, no matter how hard they tried, Mara's rescuers couldn't find a foster or adoptive home for her. Reaching out to rescues across the country yielded no results. She ended up being boarded for another 10 months, which wasn't good for her physically or mentally.

Finally, an almost-perfect foster for Mara came along. Someone had filled out an application expressing interest in fostering a special needs dog. “As soon as we read it, we realized this person would be perfect for Mara,” Carrara said. “We took a chance and reached out, and incredibly, they agreed to foster her.”

There was just one problem—they were planning on moving overseas within six months, so they wouldn't be able to keep her that long. That foster has been caring for Mara since January 2024, but now it's time for them to leave—and time for Mara to find her furever family.

If Mara doesn't find a home, there will be no choice but to send her back into boarding, where she completely shut down after spending more than a years there. No one who knows her wants that for her.

dog on a sofa with a stuffed toy

Look at that sweet face.

rockykanaka.com

"Mara is a beautiful girl, fully trained, and simply needs to be in a home as an only dog. She is very smart and LOVES human attention. She loves car rides, long walks/hikes, and LOVES PUP CUPS!" the rescue shares. "She MUST be the only dog in the home. However, Mara is fully muzzle trained and only needs it if she is near other dogs (in doggy day care). This darling girl has been failed by humans over and over again. But we never gave up on her, and she knows that. We will do whatever it takes to find this wonderful pup her perfect home."

Let's help this sweet girl find a family who can care for her and give her a loving home. For information about Mara and how to adopt her, go to: https://rockykanaka.com/adoption/mara/

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