UPDATE: We have found a way to keep going. Have a read through the post below if you would like to know why we thought we had to close, but then check out this post and see why we decided we have to keep going.
Dear Friends of NSW Hen Rescue,
It is with great sadness and regret that I inform you I am closing the hen rescue. This is not a decision I have made lightly. In fact, I have had many sleepless nights trying to think of a way to continue. I did not want to give up on the hens.
Even though we could never contend with the massive scale of the animal agriculture industry we did manage to rescue and rehome 929 hens from intensive factory farms as well as many roosters, ducklings and other animals. This is something I am very proud of and I would like to thank all the people who donated, adopted hens, volunteered and supported us on our way. I would also like to thank Sharron for all her help rescuing hens, managing the Facebook page and fostering hens. She is now starting her own animal sanctuary Manning River Farm Animal Sanctuary near Taree with her 3 friends Fiona (another hen rescuer), Tara and Denise and will be kept very busy with that.
In December David and I had our lease terminated as the landlords wanted to build a duplex on the land. At the time I thought this may be an opportunity to find somewhere even better to run the hen rescue. Both David and I need to work full time and that added an extra challenge to our search – we needed to be near public transport to Town Hall. There was a lot of competition for rentals and our applications kept getting rejected. Eventually we just had to move out so we had to settle for somewhere that was suitable for our little animal family, but not suitable for the hen rescue. I did not give up hope. I hoped to run the hen rescue in a different way, perhaps working with foster carers, but there has been very little response to our request for foster carers. We have only had one response. We did receive a lot of adoption applications, but are unable to process them if we do not have somewhere to take the hens immediately after rescue.
There is also the issue of finances. We have never had much money, but we have just about got by thanks to some regular supporters and our jobs. Now as more and more wonderful animal sanctuaries pop up we find we cannot compete for funds.
Anyone who donates regularly should stop their direct debits, although I will also take steps to cancel from my end in the coming week. Very recent donations will be returned. We do not have much in the way of funds, but leftover funds such as adoption fees, will be split between 3 sanctuaries that rescue ex-battery hens as well as other factory farmed animals. These sanctuaries are Little Oak Sanctuary in Canberra, A Poultry Place in Yass and Signal Hill Sanctuary in Yass . All 3 have worked with NSW Hen Rescue and have taken in hens and/or roosters from us over the past year. If you are looking to support somewhere that helps chickens I suggest that you go and check them out.They all do amazing work.
If you care about the millions of chickens and other animals suffering at this very moment please stop paying for others to hurt them. Please research into meat, dairy and eggs and find out for yourself what is going on. Is it really something you want to support with your dollars?
The Facebook page will be closed in about a week, nbut we will keep the web page open so people who have adopted hens can contact us if necessary. We will still take in hens if an adopters circumstances change and they can no longer keep them.
Thank you once more to all those of you who care. We couldn’t have done any of this without you.
Love Catherine x
