We have a two-faced attitude to Spring lamb

We humans can be a hypocritical bunch. Take our stance on Spring lambs, for instance.

On the RTÉ main evening news the other night, there was a report from Kerry on an extremely rare event: two sheep, on the same farm, within 24 hours of each other, gave birth to quadruplets.

There was, of course, the stock-in-trade footage of the cute (yes, my word) day-old lambs, barely able to stand, fluffy toys wobbling around the barn, suckling at their mothers’ teats. And Sharon Ní Bheoláin, back in the studio, remarking with her endearing smile – ‘Now wouldn’t that gladden your heart?’