Farm Animals
A pig wandering the streets of London; a bloodied chicken stranded on the balcony of a 6th floor apartment; three surplus rams from a medical research laboratory; nine abused goats from a cruelty investigation case; a small hen, the victim of a brutal fraternity prank; a companion sheep caught up in a bitter divorce battle; three day-old turkey chicks found still alive on a 'dead pile'; a battered and bruised chicken who'd fallen off the back of a truck on her way to the slaughter house; who will help them and where can they go to live out the rest of their natural lives in comfort and safety?
With the help of Animal Outreach these and many other individuals like them all found safe homes.
Although Animal Outreach is a relatively new organization, it has informally been in existence for many years and has evolved more from necessity than choice. We began a decade and a half or so ago as a rag tag group of animal rights activists in London Ontario, eager to promote the message of compassion for ALL animals, INCLUDING farm animals.
In particular we hoped to persuade local Humane Societies, animal control facilities and traditional companion animal rescue groups that it was not only dogs, cats and other traditional companion animals who deserved their attention. At that time these groups would have ignored the plight of farm animals or have them destroyed at best. Our message did not fall on deaf ears and soon we found we were being contacted to help whenever a farm animal came under the jurisdiction of one of these groups. We scrambled together with very limited resources to help with rehabilitation and to find a life-long home for each animal.
Remember, this was over a decade ago, the farm animal shelter movement was still in its infancy and the concept of farm animal rescue was new to most people. It wasn't easy, and with an ever-growing awareness of animal consciousness, farm animal suffering and vegetarianism we found we were being called upon more and more frequently. We realized that we needed a coordinated effort and prudent fund-raising if we were going to be able to help all the farm animals that came our way.
Today, Animal Outreach is a busy, grass-roots charitable organization that has networked with many other animal rescue groups to help hundreds of animals in need.
Animal Outreach volunteers provide permanent homes in the London area for a small number of farm animals. For the other farm animals we provide foster homes and financial support until we can locate a suitable permanent home. We will then organize transportation. Unfortunately, safe havens for rescued farm animals are still few and far between in S.W. Ontario and those that do exist are stretched to their limits. We have often had to look further afield and have even transported rescued animals as far as Colorado, Michigan, New York, Northern Ontario, and Quebec.
Our long-term goal is to acquire a property for an urgently needed sanctuary in the London area. Here, our rescued animals will be able to live out their lives in peace and tranquility. Our sanctuary animals will act as ambassadors sending out the message that each and every one of them deserves our understanding, respect and compassion.
In the meantime we hope to spread the word about farm animal rescue and the efforts of Animal Outreach. We would like to be able to help farm animal rescuers in other communities by offering financial support and by acting as an information resource. We hope to build on our list of sanctuaries and act as facilitators for groups and individuals across Canada who will come to the aid of a farm animal in need. Together we can create a coordinated network of rescuers across Canada.
Although Animal Outreach was formed to help farm animals, we try to help any animal that comes our way.
IIf you'd like to lend a helping hand or would like further information about Animal Outreach, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.
