Goudie Academy pupils have opportunities to find a hobby or further develop a talent through out-of-school learning. Some pupils may select rock-climbing whereas others may spend the time getting involved with animal rights – which is what one young person has chosen to do.
At only thirteen years-old, one young pupil is certain their future involves helping animals. Their free-time is spent at the farm at Finlaystone Country Park with The Ark on the Clyde, a not-for-profit organisation dedicating to enhancing lives with animals and education.
The young person recently helped save baby lambs from an auctioneer. Instead, the lambs were taken to their new home at Finlaystone.
The young animal rights activist describes to us how the baby lambs are settling in: “I have always loved animals with my favourite being dogs, particularly a husky. My favourite thing to do is to spend time at Finlaystone Country Park and help at their farm where they have sheep, goats, guinea pigs and more. There are ducklings – one is called, Kiwi as it is brown and furry.”
“I helped the farm save twin lambs from an auction. We named them Evan and Oreo. Evan, the lamb, initially refused to eat. He was weak and moving very little. I held the lamb and comforted him by putting my head against his head and tried to help feed him. Evan began to trust me and realised I was friendly, he even started to follow me around. Now, Evan runs around and is playful – he has plenty of other sheep as pals.”
“A lot of work goes into caring for lambs as we need to pick them up and double-check they are all healthy and well – the main thing to look out for is a limp or if there are any injuries that need any antibiotic spray.”
“I visit the lambs and other animals up to three times a week and have learned so much about what is involved in looking after pets. I would love to get a job at the farm but I am now aware of all the tasks that need to be done and know it would be harder work than school.”