How do I shut down a sanctuary?

I feel hopeless and don’t know what to do

I’m writing this on my phone as I wait outside the vet’s garage door. We’re still out the back due to bird flu protocols. But I’m grateful they see them at all. Not all vets will.

Today three of my feathered family, Kerry, Mara and Jen are having procedures and Lucy, who was operated on last week for reproductive disease (caused by selective breeding and people’s greed for eggs) is having complications.

I feel hopeless.

The sun is shining. It’s such a beautiful day and I’m getting the girls the treatment they need. It should be a privilege to give them this care. And yet we are under such financial and emotional stress that it doesn’t seem possible to continue.

The fact is if this was a business it would not be viable and would have shut down a long time ago. There is no way someone with a small business would continue getting into debt and living without the basics most homes provide for this long. They would shut it down and get a job.

But I am stuck. This is not a business. NSW Hen Rescue is a charity and since 2010 we have liberated thousands of hens from cages and rescued so many more from horrible situations. It takes up all of my time. Our attempts to find local volunteers have so far been unsuccessful. I think the reason other rural sanctuaries find it so much easier is because they can offer volunteers a place to stay. We don’t have any space to offer and we don’t have essential services like electricity to most rooms.

With David away right now my work starts at 6am and finishes at 1am. So I truly can’t fit in paid work. Also how on earth would I live in a world with such cruelty without taking daily action to add some kindness to it? I’m not sure.

We’ve never had a fundraiser that’s reached our goal. Whether we were on or off social media platforms, whether we made a video that received a million views. Whether we posted daily on YouTube or held fundraising events, did sponsored events or raffles. Perhaps it’s just harder for people to feel concern for chickens, the ones deemed truly worthless by society and the ones I’ll see in plastic bags in Coles when I go to get the pigs their fruit in a minute.

Not you though. As a supporter you are one of the ones who get it. And that’s part of the problem. The same wonderful people who always donate must feel absolutely exhausted by me asking for donations. How draining! And yet you stay behind us, caring just as much as I do for those animals treated as products or rubbish by society.

But after the vets bills that will be paid today we will likely be out of funds. If you’ve donated recently, please know your donations have been put to great use. You may have seen our progress video I sent yesterday. I’m proud of that progress and that’s thanks to you. No money has been wasted and it’s made a true difference to the chickens whose enclosures are done and who are now back to enjoying their days. I’m also so grateful to the hen heroes and paid subscribers who allow us to buy feed and bedding without which I have no idea what we’d do.

But the fact remains the goal of the fundraiser was the minimum we needed, so now it seems impossible to reach it and with all the extra vet bills what do we do?

If there is truly no way to get on track, how on earth would we shut down a rescue? Well, a sanctuary.

I expect your mind may jump to: you need to rehome the animals. And I get that seems simple from the outside

Other than the fact we love every animal here, the animals we live with are mostly bonded to us or bonded to each other in complex groups. The ones who are not have human aggression that would not be tolerated by most or high needs that could not be met in most homes. Some of our family members have complex vet needs that would put an adopter into a similar financial situation as we are in, and of course they would all need predator protection to a very high standard.

The hens are mostly on implants to try to save them from their horrific breeding. These need to be renewed every 5 months. the roosters are bonded to the hens. Wren, our meat industry rescue spends every evening with us in the house, has a restricted diet with low calorie treats and loves a chin scratch. Not only that, but most of society is fine with eating the very animals we care for and finds it very strange we care for them at all.

We are essentially trapped. And still people keep telling us they will kill this rooster and that sick hen if we do not step in. I tried reactivating Facebook recently to try to connect with people who support us there. It didn’t work. The platform doesn’t allow us to reach our kind of people anymore. Instead we got a whole lot of trolls. So I stay off Facebook completely now. Any community group post is filled with animal abuse and roosters desperately in need of homes.

What would you do in this situation? I don’t think I could live with myself if I let these animals down. I’ve promised to care for them for life. But unless there’s a miracle I’m not sure how.

This isn’t a fundraising email. I’ll put a link to the campaign at the end incase you want to share it with someone you know but I don’t want to ask you to donate again. I only just sent you an email yesterday explaining the vet updates and the net progress. Four of you sent another donation which I am so grateful for. So many of you have already donated very generously and should not be expected to donate again. I don’t want you ending up in the same situation as me.

This email is just me explaining how bad things feel and that I don’t know what to do. Because it can all feel very lonely especially in an area where people view animal abuse as a human right.

Usually I try to look for things to be grateful for and keep my problem solving hat on. I know there is hope things can get better and I am so grateful for all your support but some days it is hard to stay positive.

Here’s that link incase you want to share it with anyone who is new to our work: https://chuffed.org/project/henhavencrisis

Love Catherine x

Founder of NSW Hen Rescue