Rescue operation of the camera sheep
A special kind of rescue operation
Camera sheep were wandering around in the forest and nobody was interested in them
Animals break out of their stables and enjoy freedom in a forest, they are abandoned in cardboard boxes or crates, or dogs are tied up somewhere with a rope because the owner can no longer or no longer wants to hold them.
In fact, pet owners should be aware of their responsibility for their animals and treat their pets accordingly.
Four camera sheep were wandering around outside their home in a forest in Upper Austria. Nobody wanted to feel responsible for the animals and the actual owner of the sheep was no longer interested in his sheep.
Animal ethics - What about the dignity of animals?
How should people treat animals and to what extent should they take their needs and interests into consideration? Do animals even have dignity? Animal ethics is of particular importance not only because of the use of animals by humans, but also because of the fact that the legal and social norms of a society only provide limited answers to the question of how humans should treat animals. Human rights apply to all humans, but the same rights for all animals do not seem to be so easy to realise. For example, the rights of animals often vary depending on the way in which we use them. For example, fattening pigs in agriculture are given considerably less space than pigs living in zoos. Torturing animals arbitrarily or killing them unjustifiably is socially ostracised and also punishable by law, but killing them for meat is not.
Anton, Linda, Nicole and Jakob are now under the protection of Gut Aiderbichl
Anton, just two months old, Linda (5 years), Nicole (6 years) and the ram Jakob (6 years) had escaped from their owner’s stable and wandered around a wooded area in Upper Austria for almost ten weeks.
Benedikt Gruber, manager of Gut Aiderbichl Deggendorf, learnt about the free-roaming Cameroon sheep and their owner, who was no longer interested in the Cameroon sheep. Gut Aiderbichl was given permission to capture the animals and give them a new, protected home before the approaching winter.
For all those who don't want to believe it: There is no such thing as a stupid sheep
Cameroon sheep originally come from the Cameroon region of West Africa. The small, hardy breed of sheep can adapt well to different climatic conditions.
Cameroon sheep are also so-called hair sheep and do not need to be shorn. The temperamental animals are always ready to flee and so it was not easy for the Gut Aiderbichl animal rescuers to catch the small herd. It was a challenge for the humans and the technical equipment to rescue the animals.
Infrared cameras, a temporary enclosure fence, a lot of patience and calm were required
Anton, Linda, Nicole and Jakob quickly recognised what the animal rescuers and the vet were up to. They ran off quickly and cunningly, challenging the rescue team again and again. The experienced rescue team knew that the rescue operation would not be completed in two hours.
With the help of thermal imaging cameras, little Anton and his family were located and near a stream bed the time had come: the animal runaways were caught and transported to Gut Aiderbichl Henndorf.
The vet’s health check revealed that Anton, Linda, Nicole and Jakob are healthy and that Linda and Nicole are not expected to have any more offspring. The good hay and the many other sheep in their new home made it easier for the animals to settle into their new forever home very quickly.
Why do I help animals? Because so many have decided not to.
– Jens Waldinger (animal welfare activist)
We wish Anton, Linda, Nicole and Jakob a healthy and safe life at Gut Aiderbichl!
From: Gisela Pschenitschnig, Gut Aiderbichl
