When We Lose Sight of What We Owe…

The answer is as varied as the circumstances in which the animals find themselves, but one thread so often binds their stories. Somewhere along the way, humans have failed in the responsibility we assumed when we made domesticated animals’ lives dependent upon ours.

And so begins the story of Lost.

A stocky ram of perhaps six to eight years, Lost had been left behind when the farmer responsible for him moved on. Capturing him, it seemed, had simply proved too difficult.

And so Lost stayed.

Until a text from our good friends at Vets for Compassion brought him onto our radar: “We’ve got him. Can you take him? No one will.”

Then came the photograph.

A ram who was both out of vision and seemingly out of luck.

And we felt we could offer him both.

Lost arrived with a horn rubbing against his left eye, causing a nasty corneal ulcer. His other horn was impeding his sight and his hooves were terribly overgrown. All received the attention they so desperately needed while we made the most of the fading window of sedation required for his capture.

And Lost? Well, he is quite the dashing fellow. A neck of almost improbable proportions, a broad and powerful frame, and magnificent tufts of chest hair worthy of a 1970s Hollywood leading man.

Yet behind that formidable exterior stands a frightened fellow trying to make sense of a world he does not yet understand. And every part of us wants to wrap our arms around him and explain that the hurting is over.

But with every step away, his fear asks something different of us.

Who is our kindness really for?

And so we stand back.

Because sometimes kindness asks us to resist our desire to comfort long enough to understand how another being needs to be comforted. With Lost’s eye slowly healing his world is slowly changing.

We have time.

And now, so does Lost.

He has spent long enough living on human terms. From here, as much as we possibly can, the terms will be his. And perhaps therein lies the irony of his name. For when animals like Lost fall beyond the reach of our care, it is not they who have lost their way.

It is we who have lost ours.