Goodbye, Dave

Dave was one of last year's pet lambs, and - being a boy - he was always destined for market.

I can't help to get attached to my woolly pet babies - I don't know how anyone couldn't - and even ten-year-old me had to come to accept the fact that my beloved Titch was for market too. Just over a decade on, and it's still hard to say goodbye.

Dave was one of the so-called "tail-end charlies" - those are the lambs that don't fatten very quickly at all. There were eight of them left, and even then, one of them wasn't up to the required weight for sale. For contrast, Dave's brother was sold in June.

Dave and his friends were put into the race.

Dave was at the back.

The smallest of the lambs did his best to hide.

The way out is closed for now.

Dave and his friends were tagged and sprayed with coloured marker so they'd be easy to identify when they came into the sale ring.

Everyone was then loaded onto the trailer.

Dave having a look around.

All of them found their first time in the trailer to be an unusual experience.

The important thing is that Dave had a good life.

Goodbye, my friend.