As sheep drown in flooded fields, vet warns: ‘It could be fatal’ | Business

It was announced on Friday 15min reader and shared the images.

According to 15min contacted the reader, on Friday Kėdainiai police and firefighters were unable to contact the owner of the sheep, her phone was turned off, and the police cannot take any action without permission.

Not only were the sheep not saved on Saturday, but the situation got even worse, because when the water rose on Friday, they gathered on the remaining dry “islet”, which disappeared over the weekend.

During the night, the water rose even more, so the sheep had to wade through it and look for other drier areas. The herd has separated and currently one part of the sheep is trying to get closer to the fence that encloses the territory.

According to the local residents, the sheep are no longer mekena, but bleating. They raise the question of animal care: if it is known that the water level is rising, why are the sheep not taken care of?

15min as far as we know, the owner of the sheep lives 200 km from this place, she does not want to comment on the situation.

Reader’s photo/Sheep in Kėdainiai district

According to local residents, this area is flooded every spring. According to them, the water may still rise.

This is not the first time

Valentinas Tamulis, the mayor of Kėdainiai district municipality, said that he went to the place on Saturday to look at the situation.

VIDEO: Dozens of sheep are drowning in Kėdainiai in Nevėžys

According to him, the sheep are not drowning, one part of the herd – regarding 20 sheep – is gathered in a larger area of ​​dry grass, the other larger part – regarding 40 sheep – is standing on an unflooded “island”.

“Given that it didn’t rain yesterday, it didn’t rain tonight and it’s not raining now, you have to hope that the water will recede. This means that the situation will only improve and those sheep will have even more dry land.

I just spoke with the chief of the fire service, he said that he is monitoring the water level. 6 p.m. we will call once more and see what the situation is. 6 p.m. and I myself will go once more to see the sheep”, – 15min said V. Tamulis.

According to his knowledge, fire service specialists contacted the owner of the sheep, but she refused help because she does not see the problem at the moment. Hopefully the water will recede and everything will be fine.

Julius Kalinskas / 15min photo / Valentinas Tamulis

According to V. Tamulis, a similar situation happened last year, only that time the whole herd swam to a drier area and stayed together. This was also confirmed by one local resident, who stated that there is nothing to worry regarding, as this has not been happening for the first time. And before, the sheep swam to a drier area, they swam this time as well.

The regional mayor drew attention to the fact that part of the herd, which is closer to the road, is afraid of people and may run away. Therefore, rescuing them would be difficult.

“They might run off that island and swim in all different directions. This might make the situation worse. Imagine if we sneaked onto the owner’s property, if we scared away the sheep and, God forbid, one of them drowned, then the owner would make all the claims once morest us. They would ask: what are you waiting for? Everything can turn around.

And if it were to rain, you would definitely have to think and do something, but I still have a hard time imagining how to do it without the owner’s consent, when the owner himself tells you not to go in,” mentioned V. Tamulis.

Warned to take care of the sheep

Odeta Vaitkevičienė, representative of Kaunas County Chief Police Commissariat 15min stated that he received the first notification regarding this situation on Friday evening, and the second one on Saturday morning, at 7:51 a.m. It was mentioned that there are regarding 15 sheep.

According to her, the officials responded to the report the same evening, communicated with the local elder, the surrounding residents, and the fire service regarding the possibility of transporting the sheep and finding their owner. The officials also informed the environmentalists regarding the situation.

“This morning, I managed to contact the owner of the sheep. It took some time, because yesterday both the elder and the surrounding residents did not provide any information regarding who the sheep belonged to.

The owner told the authorities this morning that she knows the situation, she came to see it herself. He mentioned that the meadow has been flooded for several years, but later it recedes, so he does not see a problem in this situation, and refused help.

She was warned to take care of the animals. The woman said that she will try to take care of those animals in the near future”, said O. Vaitkevičienė.

She admitted that indeed the services cannot take action without the owner’s permission or request for help.

“The boat has a fire service. The owner must either apply or agree to accept help so that the fire service can transport the sheep if necessary,” explained O. Vaitkevičienė.

May result in death

“A sheep is not a swimmer, it is not coded in its genes. They might swim here only because they were trying to save themselves, they were trying to perform movements similar to swimming. But they can only do this for a very short distance. And for small lambs, it may be impossible to swim out at all”, – 15min said Jurgita Autukaitė, a veterinarian at the Large Animal Clinic of the Veterinary Academy of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.

15 min reader’s photo/Dozens of sheep are drowning in Kėdainiai in Nevėžys

As she explained, when the wool gets wet it becomes heavy and begins to drag the sheep down, making their movement even more difficult, “it can end in death.”

“Even in cases where sheep graze near a water body, let’s say one goes to drink, if she slips and falls, she will probably not get out, she will die. Sheep are stupid and have a short memory, so even teaching them to swim would be impossible,” said J. Autukaitė.

She also mentioned that if one sheep drowned, the others might drown as well, because they are simply driven by the feeling of the herd. If one does not act properly, the others will not think of doing otherwise.

In addition, wet sheep can be chilly, and their legs are generally not covered with wool, so they get cold when they stand in water.

What’s more, the sheep likely have nothing to eat while standing in the water. As J. Autukaitė explained, since sheep are ruminant animals, they must constantly receive feed, otherwise the digestive system will be disrupted, weakness will prevail, they will grind their teeth and maybe even die. Just a day without feed can have consequences.

It would only be possible to treat those who are exhausted with medication.

“This is inexcusable”

The non-governmental organization VšĮ Animal Welfare Initiatives (GGI) specializes in pet animal issues, but it still received a number of reports from residents regarding the sheep situation.

The head of the organization Beatričė Vaitiekūnaitė-Pliuskė emphasized that, as in any case, the owner must ensure proper conditions for keeping animals or livestock.

“And such conditions are really not suitable, even if they are only for a few days, even if it is a natural disaster, it is the owner’s responsibility to solve this situation. And especially if it’s not the first year. This is inexcusable,” 15min she mentioned.

The interviewee was also surprised by the attitude of the institutions that they cannot do anything without the owner’s consent.

“Yes, legally, an animal is the property of a person, but it should be distinguished that it is a living being. And there are quite a few cases with pets, when it is seen that the animal is in danger of death, the police do not wait for the permission of the owners. They have the right to even enter the premises and help those animals. I don’t understand why everyone is sitting and waiting now, what are they waiting for.

Of course, I’m no sheep expert. Some say that sheep are in danger of death, others say that sheep can swim. I don’t know what to believe. However, animals should not get into such a situation, and if they do, it should be dealt with quickly. The fact that the situation is not resolved is already condemnable from our side.

After all, imagine yourself in that place, you are on an island from which you cannot leave, so how many days might you sit there without eating, drinking, getting wet, freezing? I think that soon everyone would change their mind and no longer think that this is nothing like that,” stated B. Vaitiekūnaitė-Pliuskė.