It was a case of deju vu when the Edgar’s Mission rescue team set eyes upon a wool-burdened sheep atop Mt Alexander in Central Victoria.

Found by a kindly bushwalker, Alex (as he was quickly and affectionately named) was in a very sorry state of health and unable to stand.

Displaying haunting similarities to Baarack the sheep, whom the sanctuary took in last year with a massive fleece of 34.5 kg (76lbs), Alex’s plight was no less urgent or critical. In fact, it would be more so, as the rescue team would soon learn.

Although Alex was literally out of the woods, the old metaphor still applied as his rescuers raced against time to rid him of the burdensome fleece.

Not long thereafter Alex stood on wobbly legs as a 40 kg* (88lbs) pile of urine-soaked, stick and twig-matted and insect-encrusted fleece lay in his wake.

The Edgar’s Mission team saw many similarities between Alex and Baarack: both were wethers around 7 years of age and both were of Merino breeding. Both highlighted the problems that occur when sheep are not shorn, and both displayed the smarts of sheep and their resilience to survive against the odds in inhospitable terrain. And, heart-warmingly, both found sanctuary thanks to the goodness of the human heart.

Far from mindless followers, sheep are highly social with sophisticated emotional skills that can recognise human and animal faces.

Research increasingly suggests that sheep can form images in their brain of absent individuals (such as their babies) when they are not visible, just as humans would think about a friend or family member that they miss.

In Australia alone, often born in the most inhospitable conditions of winter, an estimated 10-15 million lambs die annually due to exposure and other preventable causes.

Adequate shelter can greatly prevent this, but sadly this is not a legal requirement in Australia.

The simplest way to help sheep like Alex is to leave them off your plate. And with so many delicious alternatives to lamb these days, it’s never been easier!

When you make the pledge for Be Kind to Animals Week, you’ll get a free Kindness Kit and delicious plant-based recipes to help get you started.

Because no matter what animals look like, they all need and deserve kindness.