Woman's Weekly Article 1999

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Woman's Weekly Article 1999

"There are some people you can't help but admire, and Carole Webb is one of them. Nine years ago she set up a sanctuary to rescue farm animals who'd abandoned or mistreated. Despite the catastrophies she's had to face along the way - already widowed, she lost her daughter and her mother within months of each other, then found the sanctuary's very survival threatened by money problems - she's refused to let anything prevent her from saving the animals she loves.

Dressed in blue leggings, a faded pink and blue chequered shirt, and tatty grey quilted jacket, Carole proudly takes me on foot to meet her 'family' - some 500 sheep, goats, lambs, calves, pigs and chickens who live amid a ramshackle jumble of barns and outhouses.

The sanctuary is in a remote area known as Fen Drayton, 14 miles west of Cambridge, where even in Summer a bitter wind can blow. Surrounded by endless acres of flat land, uninterrupted by even a tree, there's not a soul in sight. Indeed, if it wasn't for the mobile phone poking out of a threadbare pocket in Caroles jacket, I could easily forget that we're on the verge of the 21st century."

"'I'm like the old woman who lived in a shoe' Carole says, laughing, as we stand in the middle of a muddy field surrounded by inquisitive animals. 'I've always wanted to be involved with animals. Ever since I was a little girl I had cats and dogs, but I never realised it would be on this scale'.

Inspiration for the sanctuary came around 12 years ago when Carole, who'd trained as a veterinary nurse, was living with her family in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. 'I had a pony, which I kept in an adjoining field to a local farm, and whenever I was there I loved to watch the lambs. One day I just asked the farmer whether he needed any help looking after sick animals'.

'I made it quite clear I wouldn't take them to market, as I knew the next stop after that was the abattoir. It broke my heart when he took the lambs away from the ewes. They'd get so distressed - I swear I could hear them crying...'

'Anyway, I'd been there for a couple of years when one day I was just standing there, a little lamb in my arms, and the thought hit me - I'd rescue farm animals. I'd found my niche in life'."

"In a cruel twist of fate, however, Carole was only able to buy the land for the sanctuary as result of a tragedy. She and her husband John and their disabled daughter Melanie were out in their car when a drunken driver smashed into it; John was killed. When Carole received compensation, she used the money to purchase the land that is now home to the animal sanctuary.

'Of course, I'd rather this place hadn't been born out of a disaster, but at least some good has come of it' she say's while stroking Star, a ewe who's come up to greet her.

When Carole first moved in nine years ago, she'd inherited some 15 sheep from the farmer including Larry the lamb whose mother dies shortly after his birth.

'When I found him he was cold, hungry and close to death' she recalls. 'I bottle fed him, wrapped him up warmly next to the kitchen fire and nursed him back to health. I also rescued his twin brother'.

After a long and happy life, the brother has since died but Larry is still alive and well - albeit a little cantankerous with his advancing years. 'Disturb him at your peril' warns Carole.

"Wiggy, the 'VI Pig', is a little harder to shake off, though. He's under the mistaken impression that we're hiding doughnuts behind our backs and won't go back to his pen until he's certain there's no treat on offer. It's hard to believe when you see the sheer size of this pig that he was found abandoned by the side of the road - cold, weak and hungry.

Seeing the animals through Caroles loving eyes, they do seem to have personalities of their own. Each one has a history - often a sad one originating from human callousness. But it's Caroles aim that they should all have a future, as in the case of Gismo the sheep and hisvmother who, despite being almost full term in her pregnancy, was being sent to the slaughterhouse when she came to the attention of Carole. She rescued the ewe and three days later Gismo was born. Then there's Gromit, the Friesian calf who was left to die because the farmer wouldn't pay his vet bills.

Some stories, such as Petal the goats, are truly appalling. 'It's amazing she'll let a human go near her after the treatment she received' say's Carole. 'She had a broken leg and her owners were meant to take her back to the vet within a few months so that he could take her plaster cast off. But they didn't return until 18 months later - Petal was in agony. The vet said he'd prosecute if they took her home again. Eventually he gave her to me to nurse back to health'.

Perhaps one of the luckiest rescues was that of Remus the ram. He was spotted in a transporter by protesters demonstrating against live exports. Packed tightly into the lorry with hundreds of other sheep, he was obviously distressed and appeared to have a broken leg. 'To try and prevent protesters from halting lorries, false allegations of injury are met with a £500 fine so protesters have to be absolutely sure that an animals injuries are substantial' explains Carole. 'In Remus' case they were right and he was taken off the transporter. In the end his leg had to be amputated, but now he's completely happy on three'"

"As we both trudge through the mud, filling up troughs of water with nearby hoses, Carole points out Stevie (Wonder), the blind sheep who's shepherded everywhere by three others who have become his eyes.; Cygnet, a young ewe who was born with a deformed face, and Henry the Hebridean ram. Born with three horns, no rare breed enthusiast wanted Henry at auction.

Although Carole's been an angel of mercy to these farm animals, fate has not been so kind to her. Seven years after her husband was killed, her 30 year old daughter Melanie died unexpectedly from a heart attack, followed two months later by Caroles mother. 'Mum died of a broken heart' she says. 'If I hadn't had these animals to look after I just don't know how I would have coped'

To add to Caroles grief was concern for the sanctuaries survival. It costs Carole £500 a week for hay and £100 for food pellets. Vet bills can also be high - last month they came to £900. 'I remember being in tears on the phone to my friend Kaylie, saying 'what am I going to do?' It was she who suggested I start up an adoption scheme' explains Carole.

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