As Tess took her last breath, I turned the camera lens on Red, who never took his eyes off of Tess during her examination and death. In Red’s eyes, I saw a look I had never seen before, an intensity that transcended work. I do not believe animals grieve, I have never seen it and did  not see it today – the other ewes never even glanced at Tess.

But I believe they notice their loss, and I saw watching Red and the donkeys today that they understand what death is, and they honor it in their own way. At the moment of death, Red’s ears went up straight, his eyes almost glowed with intensity, he seemed so aware of what was happening to Tess. Then, it was done, he did not look at her again.

Death is sad, but not only said, there is an awful beauty and poignance to it, a sense of being alive, of understanding how precious time is. Death is a part of life, not an aberration, it is woven deeply into our relationship with animals. In our world, death is not respected, only feared and mourned, it was respected in our barn today.

After Tess died, Red left he barn and went out to check on the remaining sheep.