The Picardy coast is not a long, quiet river for sheep. As in the mountains, with precipices and wolves, it carries its share of risks. On the morning of Sunday April 7, two breeder brothers who had settled in the salt meadows for the season since April 1 had the bitter experience. They lost 27 of their animals while trying to cross an arm of the sea.
“It was on our way back when the tide was rising that we were unable to cross an arm of the sea. The animals panicked, the herd rushed, it’s powerful!,” says Régis Dupays to Picard Mail. Animals were suffocated by the mass. We failed to save them. » The firefighters called in as reinforcements helped the breeder brothers to recover them “because they were not accessible”.
Also read: One hundred and seventeen sheep saved from a clandestine slaughterhouse in a village in Val-d'Oise
Frantic animals
The Bay of Somme offers pastures for sheep, on salt marshes also called “mollières”. They are submerged during high tides, which can frighten the ewes and lambs. Distraught animals often have unpredictable reflexes.
On August 11, 2021, for example, a drone which flew over a herd near Villard-Reculas (Isère) pushed it to take refuge in a steep area. “Some went into a precipice,” the shepherd told Le Parisien.