Interview with Lamb Care Australia President Robyn Cochrane

Interview with Lamb Care Australia President Robyn Cochrane

Lamb Care Australia is an incredible organisation that provides a world-changing service for lambs across the state of Victoria.

We were lucky enough to have the chance to chat with their passionate president Robyn Cochrane about the work they do and how her own volunteering got her involved in the industry.

Enjoy the chat.

Tell us a little about Lamb Care Australia and what the organisation does.

Lamb Care Australia is a rescue organisation that currently rehabilitates and rehomes orphaned, abandoned, sick and injured lambs who are born during the lambing season in Victoria.

Millions of lambs die on Australian farms every year within 48 hours after birth. Ewes, particularly in the case of twins or triplets, can struggle to care for all their lambs. This is due to no fault of their own but instead to the lack of sufficient shelter on farms from extreme weather conditions and the industry’s selective breeding for multiple births.

Abandoned or orphaned lambs born during the lambing season in Victoria reach the care of Lamb Care Australia via farmers, vets, councils and members of the public. Lambs are placed into specialist care for a minimum of a week prior to being placed with a foster carer. Following the weaning period lambs are placed into a forever home where they become a loved member of the family just like other companion animals, cats and dogs.   

Tell us about how you got involved in Lamb Care Australia personally

In 2012 I started to volunteer at Edgars Mission each week. My eyes were opened both to the suffering of farm animals and to the value and uniqueness of every animal. A few years later I adopted my first small flock of sheep then raised 2 lambs at home who then expanded my flock. In the same year I was helping a friend care for lambs in need. We operated in a similar way to how LCA now operates. We cared for the lambs and then she found forever homes for them although this was all done without the framework and support of an organisation. We were paying the vet fees for these lambs out of our own pockets and soon realised that this was not sustainable. The idea of establishing an organisation was floated and, shortly after, LCA was born. 

What is one story that continues to motivate you to do what you do?

Mimi arrived into our care in August of 2020. She was only 1.9kgs, was unable to walk and had a dome shaped head. She was taken to a Specialist Centre where she was diagnosed with suspected Hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid in the cavities (ventricles) deep within the brain. The excess fluid increases the size of the ventricles and puts pressure on the brain. Mimi was also diagnosed with brain damage that was preventing her from walking. Although it was recommended that she be euthanised at the time, Mimi was so mentally alert that the decision was made to allow her to live, even if for just a short time, as long as she was not in any physical pain.

Mimi was placed into my care and we only expected that I would see her through the remaining week or 2 of her life. 24 hours later Mimi was walking, be it ever so shakily. After a week Mimi was able to stand on her own and walk with confidence. Mimi had a will to live and a joy for life that was unmistakable. Over a period of 4 weeks, I accompanied her to weekly appointments with an animal physiotherapist and took her through her daily routine of recommended exercises. To see Mimi gaining weight, strength and coordination every day was a joy.

Mimi now lives at her forever home with her best friend Willow. She is an example of what we give to every lamb who comes into our care – the chance to grow into a healthy and happy sheep.

What is one thing that most people don’t realise about lambs?

We often hear people say “Ï didn’t know lambs have tails!” Lambs are in fact born with tails just like cats and dogs. Unfortunately, being bred in such large numbers they have their tails cut off at around 2 weeks of age to make the care of such large numbers easier. Although this may help with the prevention of issues such as flystrike, if they weren’t bred in the huge numbers they are then the monitoring of each sheep and early detection and treatment possible. With the numbers of sheep in the care of each farmer in the thousands, adequate monitoring of each individual is not possible.

It is a common fallacy that lambs and sheep are all the same and are stupid. This could not be further from the truth. Lambs are loving and affectionate animals with personalities as wide and varied as animals such as cats and dogs. Most lambs love contact with humans, as well as cuddles and a warm place by a fire.  When nurtured from a young age, this close connection to humans usually continues as lambs grow into adult sheep.

When people ask why they shouldn’t use wool, what is your response?

It is ok to wear wool because sheep have to be shorn anyway” is a statement that many people use to justify their use of wool. What most people don’t know is that originally sheep were self-shedding and only kept enough wool to protect themselves from the changes of climate. Sheep have been genetically bred away from this natural form so that self-shedding is now only found in a breed such as Dorpers.

Due to the invention of humans in the natural life of a sheep, shearing has to happen for the health of the sheep. In a farming situation sheep are shorn twice a year – early summer and late autumn just prior to lambing. As a result the sheep often have little or no protection against the freezing conditions of winter. Shearing is extremely stressful for the sheep who often suffer painful injuries in the process.

The use of wool means the industry continues and along with it the suffering of sheep. Just like the other areas of the lamb and sheep industry, the wool industry is driven by demand. As with all areas of the animal food industry, if the demand for wool stops then so does a large part of the suffering of sheep.

What other organisations motivate the work you do?

After years of thinking I was doing enough for animals by being vegetarian, it took only one or 2 visits to Edgars Mission to realise that only by being vegan was I really taking responsibility for the effect on animals that my life choices were having. It was there that my first contact with farm animals occurred and that my eyes were opened to the full extent of harm done to animals by the animal food industry. In addition to Edgars Mission, other smaller organisations such as Lefty’s Place, Vic Lamb Rescue, Shear Existence and Strong Hearts Animal Sanctuary inspire me to continue with the work LCA does. Seeing the selflessness of the people who run these, and other, organisations inspires me to keep helping lambs to the best of my ability. Running a rescue organisation takes its toll emotionally so to have the example of other organisations and the support of the people who run them to look to is something that helps everyone involved in LCA to keep going, even on the hardest and most taxing days.

How can people help Lamb Care Australia?

There are many ways in which people can help our organisation. Apart from the obvious monetary donations people can also help by supporting our events such as our next Bake Sale at the Vegan Grocery Store on October 8. We have an online shop to which our 2023 Calendar has recently been added. Our website Wishlist has many different items that people can donate money for so that we can buy the items for our lambs. An essential part of the organisation is our network of Foster Carers and Adopters. LCA does not have a sanctuary so every year we are looking for new people in both these areas because we cannot continue to take in lambs if we have no homes for them to go to.

What are the organisation’s goals over the next 3-5 years?

In addition to increasing the donations we receive and seeking Corporate Sponsorship, we are also looking to expand other essential areas that keep LCA running. This is particularly in relation to the size of our foster and adopter network but also in the number of reliable and committed volunteers we have. A larger volunteer network ultimately means we can save more lives. Lamb Care Australia is expanding every year and, in order to grow, it is vital to have volunteers to grow with us.

Final Thoughts from us

Robyn, thank you so much for sharing your passion and your time with us here! We hope that this chat will spur others on to not only support the work of Lamb Care Australia but also to investigate volunteering and helping out themselves. We thank you for all that you do and encourage our readers to visit the Lamb Care Australia website and support any way they can.

LGV!