Animal advocates accused of sheep theft from King Charles’ farm

When someone hears the word “Stealing”, most likely the thought of sheep being stolen isn’t what would come to mind.

Certain animal rights activists have targeted a farm on the Sandringham Estate, owned by none other than King Charles, by stealing three lambs.

Animal Rising members Sarah Foy, Rosa Sharkey, and Rose Patterson took the lambs from their mothers to a location where they said they’d live the rest of their lives safely and peacefully. The women named the lambs Sooty, Sunny, and Sammy. After leaving Norfolk, the activists drove to Windsor Castle where they tried to turn themselves into the police.

The activists were initially prevented from turning themselves in to the police and were told they’d need to speak to Norfolk Constabulary as it was not a Thames Valley Police matter. After a long period of waiting, they were finally taken to a police station in Slough where they were detained on suspicion of theft.

Sarah Foy said that the animals are unfortunately not safe and are used in the food system at Sandringham, hence they felt they had to save the lambs. The women demanded a national conversation about mankind’s relationship with other animals and nature.

The three women have been released on police bail and are to appear at King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court on 28 Sept 2023.

King Charles has a sizeable chunk of farmland around Greater London. The estate’s livestock is taken care of by highly experienced shepherds who give them forage-only diets. All the sheep on the 6400-acre Sandringham Estate are fed a forage-only diet. The estate’s highest priority is maintaining the welfare of its animals.

Consequently, King Charles has introduced a significant number of new sheep to the estate since the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh, and the outdoor lambing sheep flock was launched to improve soil fertility.

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The estate continues to maintain high welfare standards for its animals, and the grazing sheep in the fields can find shade under a variety of trees, including cider apple, plum, perry pear, quince, mulberry, and walnut.

Ultimately, the tension between groups like “Animal Rising” and farmers is likely to never truly go away, as both groups have very different views, and the question really will be ”When is it going too far?”