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ANIMALS - Sheep - Rasputin

Rasputin

I am called Rasputin and I am a Painted Desert Sheep. I am big and handsome and strong! I am lucky because I was born here at the sanctuary and I have never been without food, water, shelter, or love. But that’s not how it was for my sheep Mom, Suzie. Right before I was born, my sheep mom and her two friends, Sally and Sarah, lived on a big ranch where they ran wild with lots of other sheep. My sheep mom doesn’t like to talk much about that time but I am clever and attentive – I listen carefully and figure things out. When I was born, a nice lady was right there making sure everything was alright with me and my sheep mom. In fact, the lady, my human mom, was the first thing I saw and smelled when I was born, even before I saw or smelled my sheep mom! I wasn’t frightened of my human mom but my sheep mom sure was frightened of her. My sheep mom told me that humans were baaaaaaad and that they would hurt me and that I should run as fast as I could whenever a human came near. I couldn’t understand why she would say this but then I overheard her talking with her sisters and I learned why she was frightened. When my human mom brought more food for us, my sheep mom would run away as far as she could. As it turns out, the ranch where my mom lived before I was born was a hunting ranch. People would come out and put out food for the sheep and then shoot them for meat and as trophies to hang on their walls because of fathers’ big beautiful horns. The smartest of the sheep learned that the only safe thing to do was to run away when people were around. My mom knew I would have big curly horns and so she thought that the humans would shoot me, too. She was very frightened for me! That’s why she was so scared! It took my sheep mom a long time to realize that our new human mom was not going to let anything bad happen to us and that there was no way that she was ever going to allow anyone to shoot me. Sometimes my sheep mom forgets and gets frightened when new people come to the sanctuary, but I know that I am safe here. My human mom admires my strength and my beautiful curly horns, but she appreciates them on my strong, healthy full of life body! She scratches my chin and my chest and tells me what a majestic young ram I am growing up to be. I know that I am safe here and that my sheep mom is, too! I love it here at my home, the sanctuary, and I think my mom will grow to love it here, too.