PUDDIN the sheep is looking for a new friend after her companion Pip the ram had to be put down last week.

The lonely six-year-old ewe has been bleating constantly since losing her best friend.

Owner Kim Goodridge, 65, from Elley Green, Neston, said Puddin had been very unhappy since Pip's death and she wanted to find her another sheep to keep her company.

"She really needs a companion as she has been bleating all the time and is not very happy," said Miss Goodridge.

Puddin is the last survivor of four sheep kept by Miss Goodridge as pets.

"They keep the orchard grass cut and the lady next door likes them in her garden to keep the grass down," she said.

Pip had to be put down after suffering from the human equivalent of peritonitis.

"There was nothing the vet could do for him so we had to have him put down," said Miss Goodridge.

Pip was a three-year-old castrated ram, but for many years his sexuality was mistaken.

"My daughter bought him at Chippenham Market amongst the baron ewes. We named him Pippa as we thought he was a ewe.

Then we thought he was a hermaphrodite and we called him Pip. It was only when he was put down that we finally found out he was a castrated male," said Miss Goodridge.

Puddin is now living in Miss Goodridge's field alongside her three horses.

"Puddin goes into the stables at night because she doesn't like the cold," she said.

Miss Goodridge is now looking to home a ewe or a castrated ram to keep Puddin company.

"I do not want to take on a lamb but an older sheep would be good," she said.

Although Miss Goodridge, a retired MoD employee, is fond of sheep, she has horse husbandry in her blood and her grandfather was the first mounted policeman in Somerset.

If you have a sheep that could befriend Puddin telephone Miss Goodridge on (01225) 810470.