We’ve decided that Zelda is not strong enough or healthy enough to put her through another winter, that means we have decided to put her down. Our options are to call a large animal vet or for me to shoot her, which I’ve done with most of our sheep who have died.

With some exceptions, I’ve come to believe that shooting an animal like Zelda is more human than having a stranger come and hook up IV’s and kill her with chemicals.

Having seen both more than once, I think shooting can be much faster and less stressful for the animal. I’ve done it enough to have confidence in my shooting and speed.

It would be hard to shoot Zelda, our favorite sheep and the smartest and most interesting. So we’ll talk about it. Maria thinks it might not be a good thing for me to do, but we’ll sort it out. I want to think about it.

I owe it to Zelda to help her leave the world with grace and dignity. And comfort.

Zelda touches me when I see her lying in that same place for most of the day, her head leaning against the side of the Pole Barn. She does get up to graze and we give her grain every day, but we both agree that she should not be subject to another upstate New York winter.

We’ll probably do this in November, just before the hard winter comes.