Sometimes bad things happen.

    It's been a trying day.  I've been waffling between posting this as a blog and not.  Then I decided although I like to keep things light and have fun, sometimes bad things happen and it's okay to share those, too.  Not all things in life are a bed of roses, even here.  To the left is a picture of what Josie looks like as of this evening.  Lucy is also seriously injured.  I could not take a picture of her wounds, as she was facing away from me and it was not worth putting her through any more stress at the time.  Our goose, Alice, is also severely injured.  
    This morning, several miles away, a family's two dogs got loose.  We found them in the back pasture attacking our animals.  I saw the dogs on a sheep and without thinking, ran out there sans shot gun.  It was a stupid thing to do, not only because I had no idea if the dogs were going to be vicious, but also because I'm strawberry blond and sometimes I roll without taking everything into consideration.  I got into the pasture and scared the dogs off of Lucy, who was laying on the ground bleeding.  Eldest came out to help and brought me the phone, too.  One dog decided it was better to give up the ghost and focused on trying to get out of the fence.  The other just kept at trying to take down our sheep by the legs and attack them.  In the end, thanks to the Ross County Dog Warden's office, the dogs were apprehended.  The vet from Fayette Veterinary Hospital, Dr. Junk, came as quick as he could to assess the wounded animals.  Our good friend and sheep go-to guy, Neil Parker, also came from his end of town with his eldest son to help.  
    Lucy has lacerations and puncture wounds on her legs, but none are broken.  She has a large strip of flesh hanging off her face.  She also has severe gashes and puncture wounds on her neck, below her chin, where the dogs were tearing at her.  As of this evening the blood flow has slowed a lot and is not dripping, but has not stopped.  Thank goodness we had not sheared yet; all that wool saved her.  Josie has a severe wound on her face and we do not know at this point if she will lose her eye.  Our goose, Alice, has a puncture wound on her back, lots of feathers missing, and a very bad wound on her chest.  She does not sound right when she makes a sound.  We do not know how she will fair at this point either.  Moe has been with her since the ordeal, not leaving her side.  We thought the worst for one of the Kid's turkeys, especially with all the feathers all over, but she was found and besides the feather loss looks to be okay. 
    The good thing is the Dog Wardens that came here did a great job.  They tracked down the dog owners, which they said just doesn't happen in instances like this, and are helping handle the situation.  They documented with pictures.  They also stayed until the vet was ready to go and said they would check back from time to time over the next few weeks to see how the sheep are doing.  I was surprised when the dog owners came to the house this afternoon to meet me face-to-face because they want me to know how truly sorry they are, although they understand all the sorrys in the world won't change what happened.  They were horrified at the pictures they were shown and wanted to see the sheep and make s  Thank goodness they are also willing to pay all expenses without me having to take the incident further.  They chose to release the dog that did not want to let up on the killing to the Dog Warden.  They took the other dog home.  I am glad they are a couple that has shown concern for their dog's actions.  As much as I want to blame the dogs for the incident, it is ultimately the owners responsibility to keep their pets in line.
    It will be many weeks before we know the true extent of the damages Josie, Lucy, and Alice have sustained.  We are praying that their recovery is successful and the lambs they (and the others) are carrying go through successful and normal births after this stressful situation.  I appreciate the time you have taken to read this blog, even thought it is not documenting a happy or funny occasion.  I think writing this and sharing it with you is a step I needed to take towards healing a heavy heart.  Even so, I am always Smiling & Waving, Sharon   

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