Smokey Da Lamb - New York's coolest resident

Smokey Da Lamb is turning heads in some of the city’s coolest neighbourhoods after chef Sandy Dee Hall, 34, and his girlfriend Maxine Cher, 24, adopted him.

Maxine said: “Everybody should own a lamb – he is great and so loving.

“I guess he’s like a dog which has not been potty trained.”

Smokey was born at Violet Hill Farm in upstate New York but was abandoned by his mother and would have likely died in the cold.

Fortunately Sandy agreed to take him in when contacted by the farmer and Smokey was smuggled into his tiny apartment in the city’s Lower East Side.

“Sandy told me that he had adopted a lamb and I said he was crazy – we couldn’t look after a lamb,” added Maxine.

“But when I saw him my heart melted - he was so cute.

“He must have been around 3 or 4 pounds and was wearing a little diaper with his tail sticking out.

“He was so sweet and loving.”

Smokey is bottle-fed three times a day and needs to be burped like a baby after he has had his formula.

He needs regular baths and can only be washed with water so his fleece does not shrink.

Maxine added: “We take him out for regular walks in the park – he really loves that

“Smokey never needs a lead because he just likes to follow us around.

“In many ways he’s better than a dog but I’ve never known a dog that needs to be bottle fed – or who poops and pees so much.

“Whenever I stay at Sandy’s apartment I will sleep in the bed and Sandy will sleep in the living room with Smokey.

“We can’t let him in the bedroom because he will make a big mess in there.

“People in the city love him, it’s hard to get too far when you have Smokey with you.

“They’ll do double takes then run back to stroke him and take pictures – he’s so popular.”

But unfortunately not everybody is as thrilled with Smokey and city officials have demanded he is taken out of the metropolis.

Maxine said: “Unfortunately Smokey has got to go back to the farm – we’re not allowed to keep a lamb in the city.

“I’ll be sad to see him go because he’s so loving but we’re officially adopting him which means he will never end up on a dinner plate.

“We’ll visit as often as we can – Sandy has even taken lamb off the menu at his restaurant The Black Tree, in tribute to Smokey.

“Smokey has caused a few disasters while he’s been here but he’s a farmyard animal so it’s to be expected.

“We’re still going to miss him hugely.”