Animal looked ‘rather pleased to see me’ after 30-minute rescue mission, says rescuer
Chris Oxlade-Arnott saves a sheep from the rocks near Woolacombe Beach, in Devon Credit: Jilly Oxlade-Arnott/SWNS/Jilly Oxlade-Arnott/SWNS
A gallery owner carried a 75lb sheep to safety after it became stranded on rocks at the bottom of a cliff surrounded by a rising tide.
While taking photographs of the coastline, Mrs Oxlade-Arnott spotted the sheep in one of her pictures.
With the tide coming in, the couple decided they could not leave the animal to die and Mr Oxlade-Arnott began climbing down the steep cliff
The 51-year-old, who runs The Gallery in Pershore, Worcestershire, with his wife, clambered across the jagged rocks to reach the sheep as it balanced precariously next to the crashing waves.
He managed to haul the sheep over his shoulder and carried it back over the rocks to higher ground following a 30-minute rescue mission.
“It didn’t look like anyone else was going to assist or had even spotted her, nor was it something I would concern the coastguard with at that stage.
“I think it had been there for some time, actually.
“We’d only just started the walk and were taking photos when we saw a white lump quite far out on the rocks. We took a closer look and she [the sheep] was staring at us as if to say ‘come help me’. She looked absolutely exhausted. She was 50-60m [from the coast] so quite far out.
“I couldn’t tell whether she was injured. One of her front legs was held up, but I couldn’t see any blood and it didn’t look fractured.”
The rock climbing enthusiast said he had to plan his steps “carefully” because on his return “there were gaps [in the rocks] requiring a few jumps”, which he accomplished with the sheep over his shoulder.
He said that after he placed the sheep back on land “she laid down for a bit, clearly exhausted and probably scared”.
“She was on her side [and we] then put her on her legs. A minute later she went to see her friends and started to eat.”
Mrs Oxlade-Arnott said: “It wasn’t a full-grown sheep, but it was a fair size.”