claire

finding sanctuary

December 13, 2025

On Saturday night, a bonded family of 4 sheep (Rory, Moose, Charlie, and Claire) arrived at the sanctuary. They are part of a larger family of 9 sheep, and the other 5 have a placement plan in place (and we offered our assistance should that fall through). 

The person who has been caring for the family of sheep is stepping away from farming. Often, when there’s a shift away from animal agriculture, or the farmer retires with no one in the family to carry on the farm, it’s rare for those animals to land at a sanctuary. There are just too few sanctuaries to accommodate all the different situations and circumstances that lead to displaced farmed animals (this situation being one of the rarer of them). 

Without safe placement, many farmed animals are at risk of being sold at auction or falling into the wrong hands, where their futures are uncertain and often tragically short. So, it’s extra special that we were able to help these four sheep. 

Today, with the help of volunteers Lindsay, Joseph, and Fran, Claire and her friends were weighed, dewormed, and vaccinated. They also got a short-acting bloat preventive medication as they've had a huge change, travels, and have been stressed (all factors that put them at risk).

Each of their personalities is already starting to show, and so far, they are very gentle and sweet sheep. The two older sheep, Rory and Charlie, have cautiously come over to check me (Jamie, Executive Director) out when I've been in their house with them for a while. They creep over and give me a little sniff, trying to figure out if they can trust me. Rory and Charlie very much remind me of our lovely, shy Gracie. The littlest one, Claire, has Millie energy (aka a wild little speedster!), and Moose often plays the “if I can’t see you, you can’t see me” game.  

I’ll tell you all about each of them in future posts, so stay tuned!

For now, I’d like to send a big thank-you to everyone who supported them being “home for the holidays” by covering their hay for the winter through our “Bring Them Home For The Holidays” urgent action item. 

Urgent action items are found on our “More ways to help” page.

Thank you to Sam and Sarah, who joined Tim and me (Jamie) for the pickup, and Michelyn, who allowed us to borrow her trailer. Also, thank you to their previous caregiver who entrusted us to care for these precious ladies. It truly does take a community of caring folks to create a soft landing and happy “tails”!

Claire is the smallest of the family members (only 80 lbs) and one of the youngest. She’s by far the most skittish of the bunch, and that’s saying a lot as they are all scared of people right now, but she can always be spotted at the back of the group peering her head over their backs. She reminds me of a sneaky eel poking up from behind a rock, ha!

Let me tell you about how she got her name.

When we were at the farm she was picked up from, Claire did a mad dash, bolted past the farmer, and out of the gated-off area. The other family members were either already loaded or got loaded into the trailer while she ran all over the farm! It would have been a considerably quicker pickup if it weren’t for her taking the opportunity to run away at the first chance she got. 

As quick as she was, though, she kept circling back to where she knew her family was, desperate to be reunited with them. After a good workout for all involved, Claire ran back into the gated off area, was caught, and loaded into the trailer with the rest of her family. 

After arriving safely at the sanctuary and getting settled in for the night, the team considered what her name could be. Sarah, our board chair, suggested Claire, loosely based on the French word for lightning (because she was as fast as a lightning bolt, haha), which fit perfectly. A pretty name for a delicate soul who’s also a little speedster!