This is Emma, a lamb that could so easily have ended up on the plate with roast potatoes and mint sauce – all but for the care of the Iden goat sanctuary run by Robin and Pauline Harmer. They also run the hair salon Country Hare. That’s day job one, the one that helps pay them for day job two: running the sanctuary, which depends entirely on the goodwill of customers and friends.
“Emma arrived at the sanctuary five weeks ago not looking too good,” Robin said. “Her mother had rejected her from day one. She was brought to us as a rescue lamb from a local farmer as he knows that, here, Emma will have a fighting chance. After a bad tick infestation her back legs became non-functional. So we took her to a vet and she was put on antibiotics. Alas, this has not worked as well as I expected. So the wheels we hope will get her moving again.”
The sanctuary has been going for nearly 30 years. “We have seven horses, 20 goats, 15 sheep and four dogs.”
If you would like to help, contact the Harmers at Country Hare, Wittersham Road, Iden (01797-280380).
Photo: Robin Harmer