A farmer taking his lambs to slaughter diverted halfway and took them to an animal sanctuary instead

It’s been difficult for me for many years and having always worked on farms this has been in the back of my mind. It took me a while to make this decision. I just couldn’t do it any more.

JOSH BARRIE: ‘A farmer who was driving his flock of lambs to an abattoir diverted to an animal sanctuary after getting too upset about the coming slaughter. Sivalingam Vasanthakumar, 60, who lives in Cornworthy, Devon, was on his way to have his lambs killed for meat when he had a change of heart. Mr Vasanthakumar said he was due to make about £10k, but, overcome with emotion, travelled 200 miles to Goodheart Animal Sanctuaries near Kidderminster instead.

The farmer said he had been tending livestock for 47 years after starting out at his parent’s dairy farm in Sri Lanka. But he said his last trip changed his entire outlook, and seeing his lambs in the back of his trailer proved too much. Mr Vasanthakumar, who’s now a vegetarian, said: “The main reason was because I didn’t like them being killed”. “I’ve always taken my animals to slaughter and killed the pork myself, I’m not ignorant to how farming works but it always made me stressed. It would stress the animals out too – they knew their fate”…

Mr Vasanthakumar said there was nothing extraordinary about the batch of lambs that altered his mindset, but explained it was a decision formed over a number of trips to the abattoir. “It’s been difficult for me for many years and having always worked on farms this has been in the back of my mind,” he said. “For the last three months I was getting a batch ready to go and I decided I couldn’t do it any more. “It took me a while to make this decision, there was nothing special about this batch. I just couldn’t do it any more”.’ SOURCE…

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