Sanctuary Tails

Celebrity Lamb Angelo Brings Some Bounce to Michigan

  
 
by Susie

While we think all of the animals who live here at the New York Shelter are adorable, Angelo the lamb took “cute” to a whole new level! Full of bouncy excitement, Angelo charmed everyone he crossed paths with and became quite the celebrity both at the shelter and online. A video we made about him has been one of our most popular, viewed nearly 60,000 times, and was even featured on Cute Overload back in March. However, his life was not always filled with so much love and so many adoring fans.

It is likely that little Angelo and his sibling were born on the back of a truck transporting sheep to a live market and slaughterhouse in Yonkers, New York. When the truck began unloading, the newborn was nearly trampled to death before a local Yonkers woman, Cindy Rexhaj, pulled him out of the panicked herd and took him home. Unfortunately, Rexhaj was unable to save his sibling, who was already dead when she arrived. Rexhaj took the best care of Angelo that she could, but ultimately, called Farm Sanctuary for help. Soon, Angelo found a temporary new home at our Watkins Glen shelter, where we gave him medical attention and helped him blossom into a joyful ball of energy.

As our shelter became more and more full, we began looking for a new home for Angelo through our Farm Animal Adoption Network (FAAN). FAAN is our national farm animal rescue and refuge project which allows us to find safe, permanent, loving homes for animals in need. Angelo, who we knew would be a great candidate for adoption, has since become one of the more than 3,000 animals who have benefited from this project since 1986. On November 4, 2009, Angelo, now renamed William after William Shakespeare, was adopted along with his very close friend Michael, now renamed Daniel as in Daniel Defoe, and two turkey hens by Bob and Leslie Nason of Williamston, Michigan.  The Nasons have been adopting farm animals though FAAN and providing them with a fantastic home since 1996.

We recently sent Bob and Leslie a series of questions to answer so they could update us on how William has been adjusting to his new life. Since he was such a fan favorite, I thought you would like to see what they had to say!

Q: What is a typical day for William like?  
A: William now has had his first shearing and is a bouncy, friendly member of our pack of five sheep. He starts the day by greeting me at the door to the sheep pen with lots of bahs. He is anxious for a fleck of hay which is divided into three mangers. He wants some rubs on his chest and back. The gate to the sheep pasture is opened and usually all the sheep head out to the new luscious grass. At lunchtime, they all come in for carrot snacks from Leslie and then back to the pasture. At dusk all come back to their enclosed pen for more hay and the night. More rubs are requested and granted.

Q: What are William’s favorite activities? 
A: Of course, eating, getting rubs, greeting any new stranger or old friend with enthusiasm, and running with the pack, especially his soul mate, Daniel.

Q: Has William made any notable new friends? 
A: He loves everyone and his four other sheep companions. He runs, butts, and generally seems full of himself.


A grown up and very wooly William eating hay with friends. 

Q: What is it like having a farm animal as a companion? 
A: To know that William could have ended up like the other new lamb on the transport, trampled, yet somehow through the caring of many has made it to robustness in life is a daily reminder of both good and evil in humankind.

 
William gets a visit from Gene Baur in late April.
 
If you too have fallen in love with William and want to receive regular updates about his new life, you can become a fan of his on Facebook. If you’d like to learn more about William’s amazing rescue, you can read his story here.   

Animal Photo of the Week: Lucky Duck Slideshow

In January 2009, an undercover investigator filmed countless acts of cruelty inflicted upon newly-hatched birds at Cal-Cruz Hatchery in Santa Cruz, California. Shortly thereafter, 38 seized ducklings found refuge at Farm Sanctuary. Many have since been adopted by loving members of our Farm Animal Adoption Network while eight remain at our Orland shelter, savoring every day in the California sunshine. In this beautiful slideshow featuring photos by photographer Connie Pugh, see the rescued ducks reveling in ther newfound freedom!

Cal-Cruz Hatchery Survivors Get Second Chance

 

by Leanne

Early yesterday afternoon, Compassion Over Killing (COK) released an undercover video of the atrocious mistreatment of newly-hatched ducklings and chicks at Cal-Cruz Hatchery in California. Equipped with a hidden camera early last year, an undercover investigator working with COK documented the heartbreaking cruelty that the baby animals endured from the moment they hatched. The barbarity of the abuse in the clip cannot be overstated. Video evidence showed a number of disturbing images of abuse including decapitated and mangled hatchlings caught in machinery, sick and gravely injured hatchlings left to suffer for hours, one duckling drowning in a bucket of liquid waste, unwanted hatchlings treated like trash, and baby birds being tossed into buckets up to six feet across a room.

Thankfully, Farm Sanctuary was able to step up and help rescue some of these innocent baby animals when we learned of their plight. After COK handed their disturbing video over to the Santa Cruz Animal Services Authority for further investigation, 88 birds were seized. Many had to be euthanized because they were in such bad shape, but 38 found refuge at our California Shelter. No longer faced with a life of agonizing mistreatment, the majority of ducks have since been adopted out to loving forever homes in California, Oregon and Arizona through our Farm Animal Adoption Network while eight others remain in our care.

 
The Cal-Cruz survivors happily splash in pools of water.
 
Those eight tiny survivors have grown into beautiful and healthy adult ducks, a feat tragically not possible for thousands of their fellow ducklings in hatcheries around the country. Like all ducks, they are incredibly social and spend their days close together in the sun or swimming in the nearest pond. Their liveliness and friendliness conceals their gruesome past, but highlights how resilient animals can be and how important second chances are.

Daisy and Gordy are two particularly stand-out members of the flock. Daisy’s beak may be disfigured, but she has dealt really well with her disability and gets along just fine. When it's time to eat, she skillfully digs her bill into the food bowl and scoops out as much as possible. She spends most of her time in our main pond with fellow hatchery escapees, Matt and Lenny. Because of her misshapen beak, Daisy makes nasal sounds when breathing which make her easy to find in a crowd! Because of minor health concerns, Gordy isn’t currently able to hang out with Daisy and the others so she spends her days with another survivor named Otis in a neighboring location. Incredibly boisterous, she always fluffs up her feathers and talks (loudly!) to every passerby.

 
The adorable Daisy duck.

The remaining three, Atlas, Aurora and Hendrix, also hang out with Daisy, Matt and Lenny in the main pond. Atlas and Aurora used to lived separately from our main group of ducks due to an initial health concern. But since then, they have been integrated into the flock and made friends with Hendrix. The three are inseparable.

Though their lives now are full of sunshine, big ponds and friends, the tragedy they escaped should not be forgotten. Similar abuse occurs every day in hatcheries, and we must keep in mind that, like the Conklin dairy incident, this type of cruelty is widespread.

 

The Fate of Easter's Baby Animals

 

by Susie

Every spring, pet stores stock their windows with chicks, ducklings and bunnies. Rather than candy and stuffed toys, many children receive these live baby animals in their Easter baskets. But once the holiday and all its festivities have passed, these animals often find that the future holds more suffering than joy.

It’s true: baby animals are adorable! But once the novelty of a tiny chick, bunny or duckling wears off, many people who have purchased them are unable or unwilling to care for them. As they grow larger, countless animals are abandoned or confined in cramped quarters and forgotten by people who no longer find them cute.

This time of year we’re always flooded with calls to find homes for the victims of this holiday tradition. We've taken in many of these babies over the years, including 49 dyed chicks from a New York City pet store who came to live at Farm Sanctuary in 2007. As these careless practices continue every year, it’s important to remind others that animals, no matter what their age, are not toys – they’re living beings. These are intelligent, social individuals who have their own unique quirks and personalities, and purchasing them as holiday gifts only supports an industry that views them as disposable commodities.

Love animals and want to inspire compassion in others? Embrace the spirit of the season by sponsoring a farm animal for yourself or a loved one. The animal residents here at Farm Sanctuary depend on their sponsors to provide them with food, shelter and veterinary care. Your contributions will help give a new beginning to animals rescued from abuse and neglect. And, when the weather warms up and tour season begins, you can also come visit your new friends and see that they’re happy, healthy and well-loved. I dare you to think of a better gift than that!

 

Home for the Holidays

 

by Leanne

Farm Sanctuary operates the largest farm animal rescue and refuge network in North America. In addition to caring for hundreds of animals at our two shelters, we field calls every day from caring citizens all over the country seeking new homes for animals in need. Though we don’t have the space or resources to bring every one of these animals to our shelters, we do have an extensive network of wonderful homes throughout the country, our Farm Animal Adoption Network (FAAN), through which we can place many of them. Thanks to FAAN member Jana McAllister, two turkeys found a loving California home in time for the holidays this year.

The pair of turkeys – a hen and a tom – were found by hikers who encountered the birds on the side of the road near San Diego. While several people prevented the birds from venturing into traffic, some with animal experience were able to herd them safely into carriers. They then brought them to the local humane society. The organization assured the rescuers that the turkeys would be adopted out together, as it was obvious they were a tight pair. While the humane society waited to see if the turkeys’ previous owner would come forward, one of the rescuers contacted us with their story. We were more than eager to lend a helping hand to these two special birds.

Luckily we knew of a great adoptive home practically in the humane society’s backyard that could provide the turkeys with all they would need for the rest of their lives. Our adopter, Jana, drove to the shelter, saw the special pair and instantly fell in love. Now called Claude and Gina, the turkeys are living a life of luxury. When their adoptive parents built a new suite for them, Gina became smitten with the carpenter, who has since become their sitter when their family is away. Claude spends his days strutting around the farm showing off his beautiful plumage. Our placement coordinator, Melissa Woodruff, who arranged the adoption, summed it up as "a perfect match!"

Pictured above: Claude in his new home.