Her name is Anna, she is less than two months old and until recently was destined for slaughter. Instead, thanks to the intervention of the È Animali association, he now lives at the Porcikomodi sanctuary, in the province of Milan, where he spends his days together with 450 other animals saved from the food industry.
Its story begins in Lazio, during one of the monitoring sessions thatessereanimali has been conducting for six years on Italian motorways to check the transport conditions of lambs during peak periods, such as Easter. An activity that over time has brought to light serious situations: overcrowding, unweaned animals, lack of water and food, inadequate means of transport. In some cases, lambs were injured, in agony or already dead at the time of checks.
When she arrived at the shelter, Anna was visibly malnourished and disoriented. His condition soon turned out to be more serious than expected: he developed epileptic seizures and ocular nystagmus, a disorder that causes involuntary movements of the eyeballs. Blood tests confirmed serious nutritional deficiencies, probably caused by early and poorly managed weaning — a common practice in intensive farming, where animals are treated as production units rather than sentient beings.
Rehabilitation: care, patience and a new beginning
The sanctuary volunteers did not give up. With a path of care, vitamins and a lot of patience, they managed to teach her to drink milk again and then move on to hay. Today Anna shares her space with Chucky, a four-year-old sheep with disabilities in his hind limbs, with whom she has established a special, almost paternal bond.
Trips to the Slaughterhouse: What Really Happens on the Highways
It is not the first time that Being Animals has managed to rescue a lamb from this fate. Two years ago, during an inspection by the AUSL of Emilia Romagna, a veterinarian had entrusted the association with a little lamb in critical condition, later renamed Nino. Dehydrated and unable to stand on his legs, he was at risk of being crushed by the other animals on the truck. After emergency treatment in a clinic in Forlì, Nino was welcomed into a private home in the province of Alessandria, where he still lives
Transportation and regulations: a system that continues to fail
Stories with happy endings, but rare. In 2025 alone, over one million six hundred thousand lambs were slaughtered in Italy, many of which were imported from Eastern Europe after exhausting journeys. «Theirs is an exception», declared Chiara Caprio, head of institutional relations atessereanimali. “The legislation that should protect these animals is completely inadequate, and some political forces in the European Parliament continue to block the review proposed by the European Commission in 2023, condemning millions of animals to suffering of which consumers are often unaware.”
According to Eurostat data, between March and April 2025 Italy imported over 153 thousand lambs from the European Union. An unenviable record, which makes our country one of the main destinations for live animal transport on the continent.
