We don’t know how this sweet newborn lamb came to be separated from his mother and flock, but we do know that had Hakuna Matata not been found, he would have surely perished. And we do know desperately he wanted to live.
Tragically, premature death is an all too common story for sheep and lambs in the colder months. In Australia alone it’s estimated 15 million lambs die within 48 hours of birth, mostly related to cold exposure. Many farmed sheep have no access to shelter, even when heavily pregnant.
As is proven with every life we save, each lamb has an individual character and captures hearts far and wide. It was pure luck Hakuna Matata’s plight was noticed by a compassionate young soul and he was given a second chance at life.
Now he will never be identified by his market value but by name – a simple gesture of intrinsic worth we take for granted, yet most farmed animals are denied.
You wouldn’t know it just by looking at him, however Hakuna Matata now has unwittingly taken on the task of pulling the wool from people’s eyes. And by doing so he is showing one and all that behind every lamb roast there is a sweet, innocent baby who simply wanted to live.