Good Samaritan Saves Emaciated Lamb from Roadside and Delivers to Sanctuary (PHOTOS)

If it had been any other day or any other passing motorist, Phil the lamb might not have made it. Rescued just last month on Feb. 7, 2014, Phil was found off the side of a local road in Australia.

The day was hot, sweltering, and Phil was struggling to survive with the oppressive heat beating down his already weak, malnourished body.

Concerned by the small, bony figure on the roadside, a kind motorist pulled over to take a look at him.

Following his heart, the Good Samaritan bundled Phil up and brought him to Edgar’s Mission, a farm animal sanctuary in Willowmavin, Victoria, for care and life-saving treatment.

Upon examining little Phil – later deemed Lucky Phil by the sanctuary – they discovered that he was not only “severely emaciated” but was also suffering from a tape worm infestation. What’s more, grass seeds somehow got embedded in his skin, causing “pussy abscesses.”

One of Phil’s eyes was also in bad shape due to an embedded grass seed that caused him to develop a painful ulcer.

Where Phil came from and how he managed to arrive at such a poor state still remains unknown, but perhaps it no longer matters now as once Phil stepped foot onto Edgar’s grounds, his new life began, a life marked by happiness and love instead of pain and suffering.

Not long after his arrival, Edgar’s Mission staff set to work healing Lucky Phil, removing the embedded grass seeds, administering soothing ointment, and starting up vitamin therapy to get him healthy again.

About three weeks later, Phil began making friends with other lambs and he is now well-acquainted with what is certainly one of his new favorite scents and tastes: wheetbix treats, as Edgar’s Mission’s Kyle Behrend tells OGP. What’s more, his health has been improving as each day passed.

“Slowly, his protruding ribs, pot belly, and visible hip bones are melting and emerging is a well-nourished and far more content little lamb,” Behrend says.

Phil is still a bit timid, Behrend tells us, but he is learning to trust again, and he is being showered with TLC from sanctuary staff.

As Behrend beautifully states, “Animals like Phil and their stories of salvation serve to educate us all that in suffering no creature is exempt and all respond to and welcome the smallest of mercies we can grant.”

To learn more about Edgar’s Mission, check out the sanctuary’s website and Facebook. You may also  Donate to help save and care for animals like Phil. More information on donations can be found here.

Image source: Edgar’s Mission