Sight ‘Unseen’

The impacts upon sheep who are in areas of war can largely only be guessed at. Media and other reports communicate what is happening to humans, but what is occurring to any sheep present is rarely spoken of. Sheep and their circumstances in a war situation are surely noticed, but it is as if the sight is edited out to be sight ‘unseen’. It can only be conjectured what the reasons are for the avoidance. Are sheep being dismissed by humans as of no importance? Or is it that, though humans are observing sheep, unconsciously they are not ‘clocking’ them in their minds? It can be noted that animals overall tend not to attract much attention when amid war, but there seems to be a hierarchy in the matter, with sniffer dogs and people’s pets at least getting some focus of attention from humans. 

In war-between-humans contexts, sheep may be in the wrong place at the wrong time: due to their location being in the line of fire; due to them being moved by humans with them because they represent economic entities and/or a foodstuff if needed.

Here is an example of the impact upon sheep of war and conflict. Within ‘The Animals in Conflict Timeline’ in its 18th March 2021 blog ‘How animals are harmed by armed conflicts and military activities’, the organisation Conflict and Environment Observatory conveys that in the Gulf War 1990-91 ‘More than 80 per cent of livestock in Kuwait died, including 790,000 sheep’.

War and conflict between people is a human creation. Sheep in a theatre of war are innocent victims there. The organisation Animal Ethics remarks that ‘Nonhuman animals’ suffering during armed conflicts is often overlooked or deemed irrelevant in the face of human suffering, both by the parties to the conflict and by the general public.’ (‘Animals and war’ blog, 17th June 2022).

So, while the media is telling us what is happening to humans at war and portraying what they are undergoing, what sheep are experiencing usually goes unreported and unmentioned. Why is this? Is it because sheep are regarded by humans as their inferiors and who do not matter?  Whatever the reason, what occurs to sheep in war is a story largely untold.