Adorable petting zoo animals die after eating deadly trees mixed up in donation

'I’d like to think it wasn’t malicious, I think it was a pure mistake.'

A flock of well-loved animals have died after eating deadly yew tree needles amongst donated Christmas trees.

Three goats and three sheep at Nunny’s Farm in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, died after eating the incredibly toxic needles which were concealed amongst the old firs.

Ruminant animals like sheep, goats and alpacas are often given waste first to eat following the festive period, as they contain vitamin C and antioxidants.

But poisonous yew, which looks similar to Christmas trees, ended up being mixed up in other trees left at their premises.

Neil Campbell, who owns the farm, said the six animals died within the space of two days – and believes those responsible didn’t know how deadly yew can be.

He explained: ‘We found the first two on Wednesday before lunch time. We found them dead between 11am-12pm.

‘And when we woke up on Thursday, we found two goats and another sheep had died. Another goat died later. So it was three goats and three sheep altogether.

‘I’d like to think it wasn’t malicious, I think it was a pure mistake – that someone’s mistaken a yew tree for a Christmas tree. They look very similar.’

It’s not uncommon for locals to bring their Christmas trees to his farm, which is also home to donkeys, Shetland ponies, sheep and goats.

But he and his team had noticed how unwanted trees had been ‘left at the gates’ or ‘thrown over the fence’ on a few occasions.

They’d only agreed to accept trees from ‘a reputable source’, but believed dangerous yew branches were hidden within a large collection of leftover spruces.

Three of his Southdown sheep – Meeni, Mynie and Mo – along with his three goats – Megan and her twins, Ian and Holly – were found dead in their paddock.

And Neil said the tragedy couldn’t have come at a worse time for the farm, which was hit with bad weather over the summer and flooding during the winter.

He said: ‘It’s been a really tough couple of months because of the weather. We have had a lot of flooding.

‘We had the wettest summer, so we went into the winter not really with enough money to get us through.

‘We were hoping to open in winter but we can’t open because of the weather.

‘Now to have this, we’re just going from one crisis to another. If we didn’t have bad luck, we wouldn’t have any at all.’

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