The Bird and Mammal Reception Centre in Heusden-Zolder (Limburg) has seized a sheep from its owners in Overijse (Flemish Brabant). The poor creature had not been sheared for 5 years. A donkey and a horse whose hooves had not been looked after for years were also removed. The animals could barely walk.
Earlier local police informed the centre of the animals' dire situation. ‘Our sheep shearer thinks the sheep has not been sheared for at least 4 or 5 years. That is really extreme. In fact, the sheep has been quite lucky, because the risk of myiasis is very high in such cases,’ explains the animal shelter’s Rudi Oyen. The animal has not contracted the disease.
What will happen with the sheep now is not yet entirely clear. ‘If we shear the sheep at this point in the year, it will definitely contract pneumonia. Because it's really not the right time of the year to shear sheep, but we have to do something, because now the critter is in pain.’
‘Faeces, for example, are getting stuck in the coat. We will probably have to shear the tail,’ says Oyen. ‘But removing the huge mass of wool is out of the question for now. Maybe we can shear part of the wool, but I actually doubt that that is possible. Normally, you always shear down to the skin.’
Pony and donkey with excessively long hooves
The shelter also took in a pony and a donkey. ‘Both animals had enormously long hooves. They could hardly walk as a result. We are now going to take X-rays of the legs to see how the hoof bone is doing. That way we will know if the animals can survive,’ says Oyen.