A Perendale ewe lamb was found in Moray Pl in central Dunedin on January 9, after escaping an apparent one-way trip to the meat works.
After the lamb’s owner failed to come forward, the Dunedin City Council auctioned it yesterday.
Taieri Mouth resident Michelle attended the auction in Dunedin yesterday on behalf of a group which had raised money to save the lamb from slaughter.
A woman named Charley, who is associated with Oamaru non-profit organisation Pound Paws Rescue, started the fundraising campaign after reading about the ewe’s great escape in the Otago Daily Times.
About $500 was raised from across New Zealand, including ‘‘a really sweet’’ $70 donation from a 7-year-old girl, Michelle said.
The two other potential bidders at the auction left after learning the reserve on the lamb was $80, allowing Michelle to win with a single bid on reserve.
‘‘If those guys had tried to bid, I would have wiped the floor with them anyway,’’ Michelle said.
The lamb was living in a Taieri Mouth paddock until it could be taken to a lifestyle block in Christchurch to live out its days with two wethers.
‘‘We want her to live out her life without ever having lambs.’’
The girl would be given her $70 back and the rest of the money would be used to get the lamb to its ‘‘forever home’’ in Christchurch.
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Brilliant story. Congratulations to all those wonderful people involved and to all who sent donations. All animals are sentient beings who, like us, feel fear, pain and other emotions. This is a brave lamb who deserves to reap the benefits of her amazing courage and zest for life. Let's stop eating these beautiful beings, stop breeding them for a life of torture and end the violence.