Holly has overcome tremendous challenges, but her story today is one of happiness, resilience, and the healing power of friendship. Recently, Holly and her original flock moved into a new barn at our Watkins Glen, NY shelter. This new space not only better accommodates Holly’s mobility needs, but it has also given her the chance to make new friends—an essential part of life for sheep, especially females, known as ewes. Given the choice, ewes prefer to remain in close-knit groups, spending their lives in community with their flocks—one of many traits that reveal their rich social and emotional lives. 

When Holly arrived in her new barn, she was eager to befriend everyone in the larger flock. To her dismay, many of the sheep kept their distance. She didn’t understand why, but our caregivers could see that the unfamiliar sight of Holly’s mobility cart made some of the sheep uneasy.

After losing most of her left back leg following an incident on a wool farm, Holly uses a custom cart to move around more easily. It allows her to zoom across the pasture with joy in her heart and the wind in her wool—but for sheep who have never seen a cart before, it can be a little intimidating.

There was one heartwarming exception.

Unfazed by Holly’s cart, Hillary greeted her right away. The two sheep quickly became close friends, spending their days grazing, frolicking, and enjoying the freedom of sanctuary life side by side. When Holly is ready to rest, she trades her cart for a soft bed of hay, curling up with her flock.

At Farm Sanctuary, Holly lives the life that every sheep deserves: one where her needs are met, her individuality is celebrated, and she enjoys the comfort of friendship. Despite everything she has endured, she is one of the lucky ones. More than 2 million sheep are slaughtered in the U.S. each year, often when they’re still very young. Yet, even survivors like Holly can carry lasting scars from exploitation and neglect. Holly’s past has shaped the rest of her life—but it never defined her.

Holly was pregnant when her foot became trapped in an electric fence on a wool farm. She had struggled for hours to escape the excruciating pain when the farmer heard her cries and freed her. Soon afterward, Holly suffered a uterine prolapse. Weeks later, she went into labor. One of her lambs died shortly after birth, and Holly became very sick, leaving the farm owner with few affordable options. In a last-ditch effort to save Holly’s life, the owner contacted Farm Sanctuary.

As soon as Holly came into our care, we rushed her to a veterinarian. An ultrasound revealed a heartbreaking surprise: Holly had been carrying a second lamb, who had died in utero and caused her illness. Holly underwent an ovariohysterectomy, the full removal of her reproductive organs. 

During Holly’s slate of medical exams, the veterinarian also discovered that her injured leg had been broken and had developed a severe infection after receiving improper treatment following the fence incident. Despite every effort to save it, the damaged portion of the leg had to be amputated.

But Holly proved to be incredibly resilient. She recovered from her surgeries without ever losing her cheerful spirit. Today, Holly comfortably uses her cart for up to eight hours a day, and new adjustments are already in the works to help her stay active even longer.

It may take time for new sheep to warm up to Holly, but her joyful personality always wins them over. With a growing circle of sheep friends and caregivers who never stop working to make her world bigger and brighter, Holly is as mobile and merry as she’s ever been—and it only gets better from here.