A neglected, lonely sheep who wasn’t sheared in her six years of life has been given her first shear—and her first friends—by an Illinois animal sanctuary.
“As you can imagine, when an owner is concerned that they’ll be reported for mistreatment, it can be very challenging for them to give up a neglected animal,” Laura told The Epoch Times. “Ellie Mae was brought to us by the owner in a trailer. They declined our offer to transport her, so we do not know the specifics of her previous living conditions.”
Before being rescued, Ellie Mae lived as a lone sheep without a name for many years after her herd mate was killed by a coyote and had no contact with other animals or humans besides receiving hay and water from her owner.
When Ellie Mae first stepped out of the trailer onto sanctuary grounds, Laura was “shocked and saddened” by her condition. Never sheared, the 6-year-old sheep was so overwhelmed by heavy wool that she could barely walk. She was at least three feet wide, her coat was embedded with years of debris, and her wool had grown over her face, covering her eyes.
“She was very timid and skittish. It was obvious that she used her sense of smell to find her way around,” said Laura, who gave the sheep her name.
“Since the wool also hung to the ground, Ellie Mae was unable to walk correctly. She adapted by changing her walk to kick the wool away from her feet so it wouldn’t pull at her skin when she stepped on it. With this, her legs grew in an unusual way, and she continues to walk abnormally.”
Laura’s priority was getting rid of some of Ellie Mae’s excess wool. With the help of assistant farm manager Cat Austin, she removed wool from around the sheep’s eyes and noticed an immediate personality change.
“She became curious and started responding to us,” Laura said.
They removed further layers of wool by hand with farm shears, before two friends of the sanctuary Jeanne and Jon Griffin brought their tools and expertise to shear more. It took them about two hours to complete the work.
Laura said: “[I]t needed to be done carefully. Not only was there significant debris in the wool, but it was also critical to hold the weight of the wool to avoid pulling or tearing at Ellie Mae’s skin. Ellie Mae quietly and patiently stood while we completed the shearing. It was as if she knew we were helping her.”
They removed a massive 37.5 pounds (17 kilograms) of wool from Ellie Mae, leaving two inches of wool to keep her warm during the cold Illinois winter. Alongside HHFS’s other sheep, alpacas, and llama, Ellie Mae will be fully sheared in the spring.
Laura began spending time with the freshly-shorn sheep, sitting beside her and touching her, and watching her slowly relax.
Next, Ellie Mae made her first animal friends. She joined two other sheep and a female alpaca and, while initially cautious, was brought out of her shell by a “bouncing greeting” from the sanctuary’s baby sheep, Bella, and the calm presence of senior sheep, Yammy.
“Immediately, after realizing she was free of the weight and her legs were no longer trapped beneath her, she began to run around, and not just running but hopping, bouncing up into the air and landing on all fours ... jumps for joy!” Laura said. “She began to initiate interaction with us, allowing us to sit with her, rub her ears, and give her animal crackers. She started to respond to her name, by looking and ‘baa-ing’ back. She was starting to feel safe.”
Within days, the three sheep were playing, eating, and sleeping together as if they had always been family. Ellie Mae’s transformation is total and incredible.
Wisconsin native Laura moved to Oregon, Illinois, six years ago after buying an 11-acre horse farm to pursue her dream of running a nonprofit farm sanctuary for neglected, abandoned, and homeless animals. She founded HHFS in 2018 and it officially became a nonprofit organization in 2019, licensed by the state of Illinois.
Laura likes to call the sanctuary’s animals “residents,” since the farm is their forever home—a loving, free-range space where they can grow and thrive. There are currently 69 residents living at the sanctuary including alpacas, cats, dogs, chickens, sheep, turkeys, a llama, and a goat.
“Ellie Mae’s story is not unique,” she said. “We believe that every animal’s life is precious. HHFS is home to many who have lived through very traumatic and horrible neglect. Unfortunately, there are many more farm animals out there who are cast aside or treated inhumanely. No creature deserves this.”
