It is said that Jesus was born in a stable. It was possibly on a donkey that Jesus’ mother went to Bethlehem, town of Jesus’ birth. In the vicinity at the time when Jesus was born were shepherds watching over their flock; they went to visit the newborn (according to the Gospel of Luke).

Time at a sale must be stressful for sheep. Most likely the most stressful part of the process is the time in the sale ring.

The star element of the popular Winter Droving event held in the market town of Penrith in northern England has been the torchlight procession through the streets in darkness. After unavoidable cessation because of Covid, this year the procession was back. It took place last Saturday.

The London Sheep Drive is an event whose concept derives from: Freemen of the City of London having had, in days gone by, the right to cross London Bridge without paying a toll; in the past, live sheep were driven over London Bridge into the City to market.

Dogs are ‘man’s best friend’. Dogs are not sheep’s best friend. Dogs’ instinct is to ‘go for’ sheep. Sheepdogs are so very trained that the tendency is contained and dog’s closeness to sheep is under strict control. Of the rest of dogs, a proportion are not restrained by their owners from ‘going for’ sheep.

This year is being good and bad for sheep. 

A good thing is that in the UK, the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 - in its legal recognition that vertebrates, cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans are sentient - recognises sheep’s sentience. It is to be hoped that the fact that sheep feel pain, fear and joy, will now be accepted across the world.