Vegan who stole lamb from farmer almost killed it in attempt to hand-rear
A vegan and self proclaimed 'animal lover' has admitted animal cruelty and been banned from owning sheep after she stole a lamb from a farm and almost killed it with failed attempts at hand-rearing it.
Louise Murguia, 49, kidnapped the lamb from Stuart Ludwell's Hile Farm in Dorset because she thought it had a broken leg and believed it wouldn't survive the night. She took the lamb to her home where she shampooed it to remove the identifying number on its fleece, put it in a nappy, and fed it cow's milk and specialist formula which she bought on Amazon.
In the three weeks the lamb was confined to her house, the animal grew malnourished. When police turned up at her door to seize the baby, the lamb weighed almost half what it should have and needed more than a week of intensive treatment to ensure it survived.
Murguia, of Sturminster Newton, admitted to one offence of theft and one of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal in Bournemouth Crown Court.
Mr Ludwell found that his lamb was missing the morning after one of his ewes died on 23 March last year, leaving two lambs orphaned and needing hand rearing. He decided to wait until the next morning to retrieve them so as not to distress the other ewes and their newborns by chasing the orphans in the dark.
The next morning, he returned to the field with his wife and two children to find only one lamb. They assumed the other might have been taken by a fox.
Three weeks later, he received information that his lamb had been taken by Murguia. When the lamb was recovered, it weighted just 5.8kg, while its twin brother, hand reared by the Ludwell family, weighted 9.95kg. A vet concluded the lamb had been given inadequate nutrition.
Mr Ludwell's victim statement said: 'I was relieved it was alive, but shocked by its poor condition - its sibling was nearly double the size and it could barely stand.
'It took over a week of intensive medical care to ensure the lamb's survival and a significant amount of money and time.
He added: 'The entire ordeal has left me angry - stealing a lamb under the guise of welfare only to keep it in solitary confinement."
Prosecutor Luisa Rose said that when officers attended the address, they located Murguia in her bedroom with the missing lamb, which was in a nappy. She claimed she was due to take the malnourished animal to the animal sanctuary later that day.
The court heard that her home was in a poor state, with hay and rubbish on the floor in every room and three dogs inside the property.
When she was interviewed by the police, Murguia said she was an animal lover who had seen a sick and dead sheep in the field and returned in the night to take the lamb, claiming it had a bad leg.
Murguia had previously told a local paper that she was a proud vegan and 'anti-farmers' because she believed they exploit animals.
'Farmers abuse lambs from day one', she said. 'Why people think [that] farmers care so much is just ignorant. I just wish people weren't so obsessed with eating meat full stop. Plant-based is so much better for the animals, for the environment and also for the ozone layer. But I feel I am in the minority and people are just blood-hungry.'
Defending, Ben Thompson told the court that Murguia: 'cared for it in the best way she could. It was completely unorthodox.'
He added: 'It came from a well intentioned but incredibly poorly executed place.
'She wanted to get her to the animal sanctuary but got attached and kept hold of the lamb longer than she should have, but she didn't think she was mistreating it.
'She knows now that what she did was wrong and she shouldn't have interfered, but at the time her heart ruled her head', he said, concluding it was 'unwise and ultimately illegal.'
Recorder Nicholas Haggan KC sentenced Murguia to a 12-month community order with a six-month alcohol treatment requirement and six rehabilitation activity days. He also placed an indefinite restraining order on Murguia, preventing her from contacting Mr Ludwell, going to his farm or feeding any livestock within two miles of it.
She was also banned from keeping or owning sheep indefinitely.
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