Several questions need answers to affect a solution:

- Are the numbers you import (e.g. UK 9 12345 678 6) placed into a
single cell?
- You don't want to sort herd numbers, so you want each individual
animal's number sorted within a grouping of a specific herd number
(as in your example-all of herd A, 001-999 then all of herd B,
001-999) --or-- sort by animal number (001-999) regardless of herd
number?
- Can two or more animals have the same animal number, but different
'random' numbers (e.g. 678 5; 678 6; 678 Z)?


I envision using Text to Columns to separate your numbers into columns.
You would have to do this in phases, as some numbers have spaces as
delimiters and other have dashes. Then line up your columns, as some
have the UK 9, some don't. Then applying auto-filter and then sorting
by animal number.

More info, please


--
swatsp0p


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