Ultimately My Responsibility {Loss on the Homestead}

The feeling today on the homestead was melancholy. A dense mist hung low in the valley. Dampness saturated everything both intensifying the breathtaking orange and red hues of fall and creating an eerie stillness. Even our normally talkative animals seemed silent. The entire scene was quite fitting after the happenings the night before.

Yesterday morning, my husband went out to feed and water our four Nubian goats. Sassafrass was down and it was immediately obvious that something was wrong. I called my sister and we began some detective work. We separated her from the rest of the group and got her confortable and warm. We began going through the list of symptoms and the possible culprits. We consulted our vet. We treated her aggressively. As the sun went down, she was still not well but seemed to be holding steady.

Around 10pm, the night turned cold and rainy. Amy and I booted up and went out to tend to Sassafrass again. It was bad. Her head was down, her body was stiffening and her eyes were hollow. Within twenty minutes she was gone.

It is hard to lose an animal that you have raised from it’s beginning; especially one that has so much personality and one that we considered a pet more than livestock. We aren’t even sure why she got so sick. We believe that we did what we could for her, but in the end she got too sick, too quickly. I can only blame myself because what happens to the animals in my care is ultimately my responsibility. I guess the only thing to do at this point is try to learn and prevent it from happening again.

RIP Sassafrass.