Trudi the sheep was formerly named Molly, and before that she was only known as number 0539. She is a survivor from the former Twist of Fate "sanctuary", and she was briefly discussed in a previous update for her friend Ethan* (formerly Poe) a few months ago.

I have no idea how Molly originally came to be under Ashley DiFelice's "care" - there were no posts about her on Patreon and I don't have any old photos of Molly from her time at TOF. I'm not sure how long she was even there before July of 2022. Based on the fact that she had a numbered ear tag and there were no Patreon posts, my best guesses are that she was a recent intake and that she had been saved at an auction. 

After Ashley's years of neglect were discovered, Molly was found on the old Twist of Fate property with her friend Poe and several pigs in a dirt pasture filled with bare branches, bricks, rocks, and other debris. The pasture used to be green and lush, but because these animals were left without food for so long, every single plant, leaf, and blade of grass had been picked clean. On the other side of the fences of the pasture were tons of lush grasses and other vegetation, which must have tormented them every day - if only they could get over there, they could have something to eat. But it was always out of reach, even through the openings in the chain link fence. None of the animals had any clean water to drink either. Sadly the sheep and pigs in this pasture had to live next to the decaying remains and skeletons of their friends and family members, and some of them even had to eat those animals' remains in order to survive. 

There are several photos and videos of this pasture*, and the scenes are disgusting, horrifying, and heartbreaking. The survivors watched their friends and family either starve to death or die from not receiving medical care for ailments, injuries, etc.  Those animals must have spent hours, days, weeks, months, crying out in pain and crying out for help until they just...couldn't, and then they passed away feeling nothing but pain, sadness, and hopelessness. Ashley walked by pastures and fields like this every day, ignoring the cries, ignoring the piles of bones and the decaying bodies. I think about the TOF animals every day - there were some that were never capable of crying for help, like Boots the tortoise. The hundred plus animals on the property and in the house must have felt so much fear, so much despair, so much loneliness. I can't fathom how someone could not and would not be moved to help them, but that's exactly what Ashley did not do. ALL of the animals dying is exactly what she wanted to happen - miraculously what she was doing for so long was finally discovered and therefore there were survivors. 

Molly was rescued and taken in by Kristin at Blackbird Animal Refuge (@blackbird_animal_refuge) and given her new name, Trudi. (Blackbird also took in Poe, mentioned above, and renamed him Ethan). She arrived emaciated with protruding bones, and her legs looked too thin to even support her. She had matted, dirty, and overgrown wool and was full of parasites, along with Ethan. They were immediately put on medication for Coccidia, which is a type of parasite, and for Trichostrongylus (worms). Kristin wrote that their egg count was massive, coming in at over 3,000. Trudi had her ear tags removed and both were put on proper diets to help them gain weight. Both sheep spent 3.5 months in quarantine as a result of everything that they were put through at Ashley's hands, but once their treatments were complete and they were given clean bills of health they got to join their new sheep herd and make new friends, which is wonderful since they had to watch Ashley slowly kill so many of their friends while they were at Twist of Fate.   

A quote from Kristen after Trudi had her ear tags stamped with 0539 removed: 

"Dear Trudi, I’m sorry humans have failed you time and time again. You were never just number 0539. You were always someone. This ear tag should never have been put in and should have been taken out long ago. I promised you the day I saw you that you will never live the lives you have in your past. You will always feel love, a full belly, and have a warm, soft place to sleep at night. You are fully free from your past now and I hope you know how safe and loved you are."

Trudi loves salt licks and scritches, and Kristin says that Trudi and Ethan are two of the silliest and sweetest sheep, despite the cruelty that they have endured. Both are friendly and forgiving, though they could have every reason not to be. Trudi is 9 years old and is the second oldest sheep at Blackbird. Because she's older she's on a special diet to help her keep her weight on and gets a special mash in the mornings, which has to be guarded by Kristin so that none of the other animals steal it and eat it!

Please give @blackbird_animal_refuge a follow to see photos and videos of Trudi & Ethan and all of their other animals happy and safe. They are SO CLOSE to 10,000 followers too! Blackbird has also been featured on The Dodo, and you can watch that clip here. If you'd like to donate to the care of Trudi and Ethan, you can send donations through Blackbird's website, Venmo (@kristin_BAR), or PayPal (@blackbirdrefuge). To make a monthly donation towards their care, you can join their Patreon for any amount (every little bit helps!) or sponsor one of the animals. They also have an Amazon Wishlist and a Chewy Wishlist! They also currently have a fundraiser on their Instagram profile to raise money for goat Axel's hospital bill. They're a little under $1,000 from goal, so let's help them get there! 

Thank you to Blackbird for taking such great care of Trudi! Under their care she is safe, healthy, AND happy.

Thank you for being here!    

*You can read Ethan's story here. Also, one of the photos in the original petition is of Trudi's rescue mate Ethan (Poe) standing in that pasture surrounded by skulls and other bones. 

Ashley DiFelice's next court date still has not been announced. I have emailed the prosecution team a couple of times already to see when it will be scheduled or why it is being delayed but so far haven't heard anything. I'll update as soon as I know anything though! Please continue to share the petition in the meantime. Thank you!