Fiona, the sheep who was stranded for two years at the foot of cliffs on the Cromarty Firth in the Scottish Highlands, and who on the 4th November 2023 was “rescued” after social media and the press described her as Britain’s “loneliest sheep”, is currently been kept in a hidden site after animal rights activists protested the plans to exhibit her as a kind of circus freak at a petting zoo in Dumfries instead of being taken to an animal sanctuary where she could continue living in peace away from people.
Protestors from Animal Rising staged a protest at Dalscone Farm in Dumfries, the petting zoo where Fiona was to be taken, but it is not clear where exactly she is now as the zoo is now closed for the winter season.
Cammy Wilson, a YouTubing sheep shearer from Ayrshire, organised the taking of Fiona from the cliff after a petition calling for her “rescue” achieved more than 50,000 signatures, but instead of freeing her from her incidental confinement and letting her be free in the countryside she was taken captive and moved into a life of exploitation. Now, another online petition has been set stating that Fiona does not deserve “to be turned into a spectacle” and calls for her to be homed at an animal sanctuary in Glasgow. By the 12th November the petition had attracted more than 9,700 signatures.
Jamie Moyes, from Animal Rising, said: “We are inviting Dalscone to talk to us about her relocation to an animal sanctuary where she can live out her life safely, and peacefully, away from members of the public. Petting zoos are stressful, inappropriate environments for most animals, not least one who has been neglected and isolated for the last two years.”
