Rescued lamb at centre of custody battle

Vikky McDonald of Willows Animal Sanctuary with River, the blackface lamb at the centre of the custody battle. Picture: Duncan Brown

A TINY blackface lamb, rescued from drowning in a river, is at the centre of a bizarre custody battle between an animal sanctuary and a farmer who claims he wants to save the young sheep becoming a “castrated and knackered fairground attraction.”

Farmer John McIrvine alleges the lamb - dragged from a river by a teenage schoolgirl shortly after being born - has been “stolen” by the owners of the Willows Animal Sanctuary - a charity which is regularly visited by First Minister Alex Salmond.

The little lamb - now named “River” - has already become part of an “animal assisted” therapy programme for vulnerable adults run as part of the sanctuary’s activities.

And the trustees of the charity, in turn, have accused the farmer of leaving the vulnerable adults who have now befriended the lamb completely devastated at the prospect of losing him. They are refusing the hand River back to the farmer until he can produce the evidence that he is the lamb’s rightful owner.

Mr McIrvine, of Strachan, near Banchory in Aberdeenshire, recently successfully sued his father for £300,000 following a long-running feud over the family business.

And in a message to the charity, posted on a social networking site, he declared: “River has a future as a breeding ram, not spending his time castrated with a goat and a pony” adding that he does not want the sheep to end up as a “castrated and knackered fairground attraction.”

But Kate Robinson, a trustee of the charity, said today she was determined to hold on to the lamb until the farmer can prove his legal claim to the ownership of the lamb.

Claim

And she said: “We are powerless and we just asking this person that, if he proves his claim, can he please just this once consider these vulnerable people and allow us to keep the lamb

“We are still waiting to hear from him as to his claim. But we are hoping that with all the attention we are getting it might make him think twice and accept that this lamb - which could have died - has now come to a place where it is doing enormous good by helping vulnerable people.

“These people have felt safe in bonding with this lamb. Being here at Willows they know that it is not going to market or anything like that because it would live out its natural life here. Now it’s all under threat and they are deeply distressed. Several people have been tears because of this.”

River was only a few hours old when schoolgirl Kirsty Finnie, aged 15, saved him from drowning in the Water of Feugh, a tributary of the Dee, near Banchory.