Little Oak Sanctuary

18/06/2025

We’re 80% of the way there — but winter isn’t waiting.

Thanks to 403 generous supporters, we’ve raised $70,512 toward our winter goal. But we still need to raise $16,987 more by 30 June to keep our animals warm, fed and safe.

Our latest hay delivery was delayed, and the drought is pushing prices higher by the day. Today we had to scramble to source hay locally at a much higher cost — and it’s stretching our resources thin.

Your donation today will help us:
• Secure urgently needed hay
• Fund vet care and preventative treatments
• Build and maintain shelter for animals like Lola and Archie the piglets who will soon be big enough to start their life in a paddock with other pigs.

💛 Please, if you can, chip in before June 30. Every dollar brings us closer.

https://donorbox.org/shelter-in-the-storm

14/06/2025

It’s bake sale day! Come on down to Dickson shops (near the library) from 11am to 2pm and grab some sweet treats and a veggie sausage sanga! We’ll also have some of our beautiful merchandise, all proceeds from today’s bakesale goes towards our winter fundraiser, with just 15 days to go to reach our target we need all the support we can get! Hope to see you there ❤️

13/06/2025

We’re 75% of the way there — can you help us cross the finish line?

With less than 20 days to go, we are getting much closer to reaching our winter fundraising target! Our next deliveries of hay are on the way to the sanctuary next week. It's nearly $10,000 worth — and we’ll need much more to get through this winter. The cold has already set in, and the drought in Victoria and South Australia means hay is heading south, and for us that means it's getting harder to find and more expensive by the day.

During the last drought we experienced, back in 2020, suppliers began rationing hay. It meant we were driving into town every single day to get just enough hay to get by. We were exhausted, our resources were stretched paper thin. And we promised ourselves — never again.

Right now, we’re preparing. We’re trying to buy as much as we can now, in bulk, to keep costs down and make sure we have what we need when times get even tougher.

But we can’t do this without you.

We need to raise $20,000 more to ensure we have the funds we need. That will secure hay through winter, cover vet visits and health checks, and fund the building of extra shelters for animals who don’t have enough natural cover.

If you’ve been thinking of donating, now is the time. Every single gift matters.

If you or your business would like to have a shelter erected in your name, a donation of $5,000 will do that — and we have two of these naming opportunities left.

We’re almost there. Please help us finish strong and face this winter with security and strength.

👉 https://donorbox.org/shelter-in-the-storm

📷 Wooliam, Billie and Sunny, three of our special needs lambs

06/06/2025

As winter begins we prepare ourselves for the inevitable calls to help lambs in need.

Ziggy came to us as a cold front rolled across the region in June of 2018. A call came in about a newborn orphaned lamb. A truck driver had found the little lamb all alone on a road near Mt Stromlo Observatory.

Alone and completely vulnerable to the elements, the driver took him to Parks & Conservation who then contacted us. The little fellow was so tiny and frail, but now he was safely inside, he was warm, and he was protected.

He had a strong appetite and grew stronger each day. An electric little character, we named him Ziggy Stardust.

Ziggy is one of the thousands of lambs born in the middle of winter each year in Australia. This is done so that they can be weaned and fattened on spring pastures in time for market.

Facing the freezing conditions as extremely vulnerable newborns, 25% of lambs born will not survive the first 48 hours of life.

Ziggy is an affectionate being; sheep provide their babies physical affection and comfort. Sadly Ziggy didn’t have his Mum, so we gave him all the love we could.

Another lamb arrived (Baartholomew Button), giving Ziggy the companionship that is so important to sheep.

Like all babies, lambs love to play. They value their lives, just as we do.

Please think of them when making purchasing choices. There are many options that don’t support suffering or death.

Love lambs like Ziggy Stardust by leaving wool out of your wardrobe, and sheep products off your plate.

02/06/2025

As part of our 12-year anniversary, over the next two weeks we'll be sharing 12 moments that capture what sanctuary truly means: for us, for our supporters, and most of all, for the animals.

This video of baby Xavier is one we’ll never forget.

It’s from 2022, when Xavier was still a tiny lamb — only days after he was found, wet, alone and near death on a subzero morning, abandoned shortly after he had been born. With love, warmth and support he regained his strength. Here he is soaking up sunshine and cuddles on our couch. He was safe, warm, and already letting his gentle spirit shine.

Today, Xavier is a proud young Merino with beautiful curly horns and a calm, curious nature. He’ll never know the fear or pain that so many lambs endure in this country. He will grow old surrounded by care, freedom, and love.

That’s what sanctuary makes possible.

27/05/2025

We need your help, truly. Please read and share.

I’m reaching out tonight with something that’s sitting heavy on my heart. Our winter fundraising campaign is still well short of the target we need to make it through the coming months, and time is running out.

So far, 310 kind souls have donated to keep Little Oak Sanctuary going this winter. We are so grateful for every single one of them. But we still have a long way to go to reach the funds needed to care for 342 animals through the coldest part of the year.

Challenges are nothing new to us. Since we began Little Oak, we’ve faced record-breaking drought, flood, fires, a pandemic, and now a cost of living crisis that continues to hit hard. It’s been exhausting, emotionally and physically. But we’ve kept going because the animals depend on us, and we refuse to let them down.

Right now, the costs are piling up. We’ve taken in vulnerable new lives like Sunny and Xena lambs, and additional vet costs for dear Molly the mule, who just returned from specialist surgery on her airway. Every day brings new needs. Feed deliveries, medical care, shelter repairs. The list never gets shorter. And all of it is only possible because people like you choose to care.

We need to raise $40,000 more to keep our promise of lifelong care to the animals who call this sanctuary home. If you’re able, here’s what your gift can do:

$35 buys a bale of hay to feed hungry bellies
$100 covers a bag of milk formula for orphaned babies
$250 helps us stock essential medical supplies for treatments and check-ups
$5,000 covers a truck load of hay or a month of vet and medical supplies

We know things are hard right now. They are hard for us too. But in times like these, we’ve always come together. If you’re part of our village, if you believe in kindness and in the lives of animals like Timmy and Tiger Piggy who started all this, please help us keep going.

Even $5 can make a real difference. Truly. We don’t receive government support — everything we do is made possible by people like you.

If you can help, please donate through the campaign (link in comments) and share this post with someone who might care too. Comment below if you’ve donated so we can thank you, and to help encourage others to give.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. For standing with us. For believing in this work. For helping us keep them safe.

With love,
Kate
Little Timmy Piglet & Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Piggy, the piglets who inspired our mission

URGENT HELP NEEDED Dear friends, I'm writing to you with a worried heart. Things have been really tough lately. We've been doing everything we can, but our resources are nearly gone. This winter is shaping up to be the hardest we've ever faced, an...

26/05/2025

Goodbye, Harriet 💛

Yesterday, we said farewell to our dear Harriet, one of the very first sheep to ever call Little Oak Sanctuary home.

Harriet arrived in 2013, already three years old and pregnant with twin lambs, Edith and Ella. Against the odds, she survived the brutal system that takes so many. She and her companion Emilie had been delivered to a NSW saleyard, frightened and unsure, huddled together as unfamiliar sounds and dogs circled around them. Their flock mates, most of them pregnant too, were sold to slaughter. Harriet and Emilie were the only two we were able to save.

Harriet gave birth safely to her twins here, and both daughters are still with us today, now twelve years old. Yesterday, Harriet passed away peacefully at the age of fifteen, surrounded by her flock and with her daughter Ella by her side. The morning sun warmed her wool as she took her final breaths, gently and in peace.

Named after Harriet Tubman, the brave abolitionist and rescuer, our Harriet carried her story with quiet strength. She lived a long, safe life. She was loved. And she bore witness to the reality faced by so many like her.

Harriet’s passing marks the end of a chapter for us. She helped shape this sanctuary in its earliest days. Her presence, her resilience, her gentleness, they will be missed deeply.

She was someone, not something.

Rest gently, Harriet. We will carry your story always.