Meet Rocky, the paraplegic sheep with an impressive underbite. Rocky was born with paralyzed back legs. Due to this birth defect, his parents decided to send him to the slaughterhouse. But the sanctuary I worked at in Texas intercepted him. Rocky spent his short few years of life frolicking in the pasture, where he taught himself to walk by balancing on his back legs. He was by and far my favorite patient.
This sheep taught me so much about perseverance. It was in Texas that I contracted then undiagnosed Lyme disease. When I became too weak and painful to carry food buckets through the pasture, I still snuck away every day to spend time with him.
It’s on days like these, when my joint flare-ups have me struggling to open jars, that I remember all that this innocent, woolly soul taught me. If a paralyzed sheep can learn to walk, then there is nothing in life we can’t achieve.
All this time I thought I was taking care of Rocky, but really he was taking care of me.
I remember Rocky! He was special. If Stacey walked into a room of 100 dogs, and one of them had a handicap, that would be the dog that she gravitated to.
You know me so well! Handicapped animals are my favorite. They teach us so much!!