There’s a renewed call for farmers and landholders to join a rehabilitative program for Cooma inmates. Photos: Corrective Services NSW.
A group of baby lambs wrapped in knitted jackets and wandering around a pen at a jail may be an unusual sight, but it’s a common one for inmates at one southern NSW jail.
Inmates at the Cooma Correctional Centre (Cooma CC) have been hand-raising them for almost a decade.
The centre is now renewing its push to get more farmers involved in the program.
For the centre’s manager of industry Michael Chesworth it’s an opportunity for participants to learn skills that they might choose to develop further on release.
“It gives them a bit of responsibility … It can change them quite a bit, being around animals,” he said.
“It’s no different to us, when we’ve got animals. You’re always keen to see them and they’re calming.”
Two baby lambs sitting in the winter sun.
The initiative started in 2018, when a staff member at the jail had the idea to help Monaro farmers during the drought.
“She identified local guys were struggling with their orphan lambs and thought that we’d be pretty well placed to do something,” he said.
Program participants are hand-picked, with about 40 inmates having participated to raise about 350 lambs since 2019.
The jail can receive a call when a ewe dies or rejects one of its babies.
For Mr Chesworth, the program is a way of easing the burden on farmers as they prepare for the upcoming lambing season.
“If the farmer doesn’t have the resources to be able to cope [with the newborn lamb], or if they’re a smaller operation, the likes of us is always really helpful for them,” he said.
Each poddy lamb is fed multiple times a day, with the inmates responsible for watching their charge.
“You just mix up a mix of milk powder with warm milk. It’s just like it’s coming from mum,” Mr Chesworth said.
“It mightn’t taste exactly the same – but like with most young animals, they adapt.”
Cooma jail has a purpose-built shed that features pens and heaters that the lambs can explore, as well as a small grass area.
As the mercury drops overnight, they’re kept warm with jackets knitted by local CWA members.
Eventually the lambs return to their farm.
“Once the lambs are of good health and weight, they return to the farmers,” Mr Chesworth said.
He said there was no special requirements for the farmers, though they covered the cost of milk powder and feeding bottles.
With lambing season soon to arrive in southern NSW, he said now was the time for farmers to think about the initiative.
“The Snowy Monaro’s weather’s dried off again in recent months,” he said.
“As we lead into winter, there’s a definite need to have this program running again to assist the farmers.”
Mr Chesworth said the Cooma CC previously had a dog rehoming program, with this initiative drawing from the Monaro’s sheep industry.
“It’s a bit unique,” he said of the program.
“Where we are, it’s quite a lamb and cattle [focused] area. Other centres probably aren’t suitable, because the proximity to the sheep just isn’t there.”
Farmers who want to learn more, or wish to get involved in the program, can call 6452 1833 between 7 am and 2 pm daily.
