Plant Power
Planting the seeds of kindness were the sweet natures of Hawthorn, Poppy and Tulip, young sheep who touched the heart of a kindly pound worker.
So, with the first leg of their new life kicked off, they are now assured that their legs will always be their own and not end up on a dinner table, as is the grim fate of most of their kind.
Sheep are indeed gentle animals by nature. Spend any time with them, devoid of preconceived ideas, and they negative experiences with humans, and we are sure you will agree. And while many may dispute just how our relationship with them should be, that is an argument over personal belief that sits outside of the fact they are sentient and sensitive beings.
This is something that does not sit in some future scientific realm, for the jury is now in: sheep are blessed with all that they need to experience the world on an emotional level. With structures similar to our own in their brains, they use these to master their world. They reflect on what worked well for them and what did not and use this information to frame their next moves.
Their strength lies in their power to perfectly be sheep: recognising danger when it happens; knowing the safety of numbers; readily identifying individual family members and friends within large groups, and even from photographs; appreciating different sounds and their meaning, from that of their babies to familiar vehicles; and knowing which plants to eat and when. (Did you know that sugar content is higher in many plants in the afternoon? That certain plants will help rid parasitism? That clovers are high in protein? Sheep most certainly do!)
And their superpower lies in their ability to bring out the best in our kind. For we can overpower these animals in any number of often cruel ways, yet when we plant kindness upon them, we’ve found our superpower too!