Memorial to Nancy who passed May 22, 2024

It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of our very own Wonder Woman, Nancy. 

While only in our care for a year, it felt so much longer. Jamie, and Tim, her primary caregivers, both said the same thing. Partly because you couldn’t help but fall in love with Nancy. And partly because Nancy required an immense amount of care in that year, which really cemented that bond. 

It was readily apparent that Nancy’s life was riddled with challenges, but that didn’t stop Nancy from doing whatever Nancy wanted. She faced immense adversity in her short life, but she didn’t let that break her spirit. Rain, bugs, or even a bigger sheeps weren’t going to stop her! Nancy was not shy with humans, and if she wasn’t busy doing other things, she would often seek out affection, scratches, or a brushing. You had to watch your fingers though, as Nancy always expected you to be bearing treats, and fingers look an awful lot like baby carrots. 🥕 

Nancy was one of the smallest sheeps, but that only applied to physical size. She carried with her a huge personality, and a brave and determined heart. 

Along with that braveness was a gentleness. That gentleness allowed us to put Rosie, who faced similar adversity to Nancy, together with Nancy. The other sheeps are too big to be with little Rosie, but Nancy was gentle with her, and accepting of her. I think Nancy saw a bit of herself in Rosie, and Rosie idolized Nancy. We know Rosie is going to miss her idol immensely. 

Nancy’s story is a sad one. Humans had let her down, but she didn’t hold that against those who were there to help her. 

Nancy was born on a sheep farm in Ontario and suffered a broken leg as a young lamb. Instead of receiving medical treatment she was given to a hobby farm as a companion to another sheep. Cruel, but probably spared her life. Sadly, she didn’t receive medial treatment there either and the lower third of her front left leg eventually fell off. She’s lucky she survived that, let alone the poor living conditions she had to endure for 3 years. 

Thankfully, Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary was able to negotiate her release, where she stayed for several months to recover and eventually be fitted with her first prosthetic leg. 

When Nancy had recovered enough to travel, she hitched a ride with a kind volunteer to Lily’s Place. 
We will never forget the day Nancy was introduced to the rest of the sheeps at Lily’s Place. Like most animals, there is an order of hierarchy. Nancy didn’t care about that. When the gate opened between them for the first time, Nancy walked right into the main sheep area, walked straight through the middle of the 6 sheeps (some of whom are almost double her weight, and all but 1 would outweigh her) and went directly for the hay feeder without even batting an eyelash. Quickly establishing the fact that Nancy didn’t have time for foolish games, she had food to eat, and life to live! 

And that she did! Despite her mobility challenges, Nancy was always the first sheep to go outside, and always the last to come in. While the other would avoid going outside in the rain, or when it was particularly buggy, not Nancy. She didn’t let anything stop her, including our biggest sheep, Johnny. (who wound up lower than Nancy in the hierarchy. Only Annie and Punky were above Nancy. This is where the nickname “No Frigs Nancy” was born! 

Within a few months of Nancy’s arrival it became apparent that her first prosthetic wouldn’t be adequate for long term use. It was also determined that both her hips had immense wear and tear from walking lopsided for the first 3 years of her life. Nancy made a trip out to Nova Scotia to seek some assistance with this. There she was cast for braces for her hips, and later she was fit with a brand new prosthetic by the wonderful folks at the UNB Upper Limb Clinic. Around this time Nancy fell ill for the first time. A short course of antibiotics seemed to do the trick, but that didn’t last long. All fall and winter Nancy battled what we thought was reoccurring pneumonia. Blood tests didn’t show any of the typical viruses that commonly afflict sheeps.

Eventually were able to determine that Nancy was not battling pneumonia, but she was in fact battling mycoplasma. Mycoplasma is a bacteria that many flocks carry, but the sheeps often are asymptomatic, and their immune systems can keep levels in check. For Nancy though, her rough start to life left her body and immune system compromised. Nancy received all kinds of supportive treatments, as well as many rounds of different antibiotics, but sadly, we couldn’t defeat the mycoplasma. During this time she also developed a nasty infection on her stump, which presented a host of other challenges for Nancy. 

Ultimately, the very tough decision was made to free Nancy from her pain and discomfort in a way that was kind and respectful to her. 

We want to thank everyone who played a roll in Nancy’s rescue and time spent at Lily’s Place. Everyone at Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary, all our volunteers, K9 Orthotics in NS, the Upper Limb clinic at UNB, and of course everyone at the Sussex Provincial vet office, especially the vets who made many evening and weekend trips up to assist with Nancy’s care. 

Graze free, pretty lady! May the grass always be green, and the treats plentiful! Thank you for gracing us with your presence. We wish we had more time with you, but we understand that you had to go. We learned a lot from you Nancy, and we will never ever forget you. We love you Nancy. 💔