Welcoming lots of new residents!
We’ve all been keeping ourselves very busy following the sad and untimely passing of dear Gus last month, having welcomed lots of new permanent and temporary residents to the sanctuary.
Nigel the pig
Nigel came to us in early January and has caused quite a stir on Instagram with his cuteness, but we have yet to introduce him here on the blog. After a few days of exhibiting his natural behaviours, the person who first bought him decided to ‘book him into a slaughterhouse’ if nobody else could look after him. Thankfully we were told about Nigel by our friends at Pigs in the Woods and were able to rescue him.
Forever homes found for two beautiful goats
Two beautiful goats - a 7-year-old mother and 4-year-old daughter - are staying with us temporarily after an urgent rescue and rehabilitation. They had been attacked by dogs and were being kept locked in a stable, but the inspiration folks at Brinsley Animal Rescue (be sure to follow them!) were straight in there. They weren’t in great shape and needed vaccinating, worming and their poor hooves were in a terrible condition, but are doing much better now.
A new forever home was found quickly and while Mummy’s foot is still not 100%, we’ve loved helping them get back to feeling happy and healthy before their next adventure.
Taking name suggestions for four new runner ducks!
We put the call out on Instagram for name suggestions for four amazing boys and you have not disappointed! We’ve loved all the suggestions, particularly Chandler, Ross, Joey and Duck; Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo; and Paul, John, Ringo and George. Hopefully, whatever we go with they’ll like too.
The boys are just amazing to watch run around, they never leave each other’s side. They are quite hard to photograph as they’re always running around, but that’s understandable as they have been in quarantine for the last two weeks.
We hope to get our pond area reinstated ready for the summer to give these guys an amazing forever home.
Appeal to re-home 56 beautiful ladies
Last week, one hundred beautiful hens were rescued from a battery farm by some amazing activists and 56 of them arrived here with us to take full advantage of the new chicken house.
Deemed worthless due to their age (18 months!), they were all due to be violently killed but thankfully are now safe. Considering their horrific life so far, their conditions weren’t too bad. And now that they’re in a much better place, they’ll soon start producing new healthy feathers and gaining weight.
One of the ladies was in severe distress when she arrived and we took her to the vets straight away. She was diagnosed with egg yolk peritonitis - when the egg becomes stuck leading to severe infection - and she was operated on immediately as this condition is usually fatal.
Sadly, the odds were against her and she died while under anaesthetic. She died because her body had been forced to produce eggs for humans in unnatural numbers - 300 eggs a year compared to the 15 her wild ancestors would lay. She died because her body couldn’t handle what our species had done to her anymore through generations of selective breeding. It is small comfort that she was able to experience a brief moment of freedom, a reminder of why the work of activists and sanctuaries is so important.
We plan on rehoming a number of the wonderful chickens who are here now to vegan homes in the UK so we can keep rescuing more. If you feel you can give any of these ladies a wonderful new life with you, an adoption form is available on our website.
Moksha and Ella are making good use of our new cow barn!
At only seven and five years old, Moksha and Ella had become completely worthless to the dairy industry that considered them ‘spent’. They can’t have any more calves or produce any more milk so they were destined for the slaughterhouse. The day of their murder was set for yesterday.
However, thanks to Fear to Freedom Animal Rescue, they will be spending the rest of their lives free from exploitation. They organised their safe arrival here at the sanctuary and facilitated their rescue. They are an amazing non-profit and we highly recommend following and supporting them.
Up until this week, all Moksha and Ella have ever known from humans is abuse. Having their children stolen from them, their milk stolen from them and tomorrow they would have had their lives stolen from them. We are so grateful that they are here now and that yesterday was the first day of their new lives and not the last day of their old ones.
Moksha and Ella have a lovely new cow barn to call their own, which we’ve been building for them throughout January. Thank you to their sponsor @rush.rag for helping with their care and transport, and a huge thank you to Warren and Josh for putting in so many hours work building the barn.
What’s next
It’s all go here as we get ready to open properly for visitors to the sanctuary and of course lots more new residents including a group of pigs who are coming to us in the spring to make our new pig pen their new home.
We’ve put in an application to the council for a brand new very large barn, and if that’s approved we’ll be looking into ways to raise funds to have it built including a possible open day in the spring or summer, depending on Covid-19 restrictions.
We can’t wait to start welcoming visitors to come and meet the residents. In the meantime, please do donate to support all the work we’re doing to expand and provide more housing for our new animal friends.
The new cow barn at Surge Sanctuary
