Sherock Animal Sanctuary

04/09/2024

Happy smiley acookie bear wishing you all a happy Thursday 😊🐗🩷

29/08/2024

Photoshoot with lil Remie 💖. Can't believe he will be a year old next month.

Bren super super busy here and I've been slacking on social media bur hope Remie can bring a smile to your day :)
Arohanui ki a koutou

18/08/2024

12 hours on the road, an army of truly incredible humans and 115 lives saved. Hen rescue part 1

So being part of a hen rescue was definitely not part of the plan for our Sunday but I wouldn't change it for the world because these kids are worth it a thousand times over.

The incredible Sally from .farm.sanctuary literally organized an army to save all the hens from culling at a farm in Auckland. The amount of work, organization, blood sweat and tears this takes cannot be understated and I have so much respect for her, and for the team she organized to help. Hens are all culled at 18 months old in the egg industry.

Unfortunately a change of drivers plans meant that 115 of the hens no longer had any way to get from Whangārei to their new homes in Kerikeri. So we hit the road bright and early yesterday morning to tag in and bring the girls to their forever homes.

It was an insane day not getting home until almost 10 and then not to bed until after midnight with one of the rescue girls needing lots of extra care as well as our little Chip and all the kids here. I'm so so grateful to Sally for not only organizing all the rescues, but even helping out with our petrol costs and funds for the day so that we could step in without breaking the bank. These kids would not be alive without her, and the army of volunteers, drivers, adopters, fosterers and so many others.

Personally incredibly shattered with another big day today but holdong so simuch love to everyone involved with this rescue - and to everyone fighting for these kids, and for change.

Arohanui e te whānau ❤️🐔

14/08/2024

Not out of the woods but feeling a lot better - Chip update 💜🐔

Huge thank you to everyone who has been thinking of our little rescue girl Chip.

The first few days were pretty rough, Tuesday night we almost lost her but our sweet little champion fought so hard and is now stable and feeling a lot better.

Her crop is still not working properly which means lots of injections and balancing the meds she needs to keep the raging infection and inflammation in her reproductive system. She gets tired quite quickly bit it's incredibly awesome to see her little spirit shining through, hear her chatting away next to me in the evenings and feeling more like herself again.

Keep fighting my little one. We are here, we love you and you have a whole beautiful community rooting for you.

Arohanui e te whānau 🐔❤️🥹

11/08/2024

Our poor girl Chip isnt well at the moment, and having to be really brave while she fights to get better. Being bred to produce insanely unnatural amounts of eggs has huge effects on these girls. Almost all of the girls we've rescued have serious reproductive system disorders. All of them have cancer.

Little chipmunk isn't giving up though and neither are we. The past few days have meant multiple procedures to flush the infected fluid and yolk from her abdomen, restart her digestive system and she's now on an implant to stop any laying activity as this would be fatal for her. (The yolk can no longer be caught by the oviduct and turned into an egg so it drops into her abdomen causing massive infection affecting multiple organ systems). She is on high dose anti inflammatory to help with pain and stop the build up of solid pus as well as antibiotics and other meds to get her through this.

She has her own temperature controlled heated blanket (so important when any bird is sick!) And her own spot sleeping next to me in bed.

She is a really sweet kiddo who purrs when she gets cuddles and loves to jump onto my leg while I'm cleaning out their house. She is very sick but she is fighting so hard. She wants to live so we will be tight by her side and do everything we can.

Off to the vets today to pick up more meds for her. I wish so badly that she didn't have to go through this. It's so unfair. I've pulled so many girls like her out of the s**t piles where the sick ones are often chucked. I'm grateful she is here with us now but I will never forget the kids suffering on egg farms all around the world. These kids pay the price but it is hidden and nobody sees them. No egg is worth their suffering - and their life.

We've got you my girl. We love you and we are so proud of you.

08/08/2024

Look at that beautiful haul!!! Huge thank you to the people in Whangārei for donating their excess citrus. Our Moo kids will be so happy especially Domino, Teddy, Harley Wheru, Big Mama, Mutti, Moony, Mā, Shadow, Zeus, Remie and Awatea! It's also a really awesome source of vitamin C to help keep everyone healthy through winter.

Hari Rāmere/Paraire e te whānau 🍋🍊💛

06/08/2024

Violet after just having a feed from her mama - look at her little milk face 🐂🥰

Just wanted to say a massive massive thank you to everyone who supports us and who have helped us cover the massive massive vet bill for Teddy and Violet last month. None of this would be possible without you. Watching 3 year old Violet with her mama and brother last night. Having a feed and being cleaned by her big brother and her mum. This is what you guy protect. I don't have good words I'm just incredibly incredibly grateful because these kids deserve to be loved and safe. They have already known far too much pain from human hands. We were recently so close to losing Violet but this community came through so that we could fight for her. Thank you. A thousand times thank you.

Violet is still a bit sore and needing daily (very not cheap but totally worth it) pain meds. We will need to look at her feet again on Friday but she is much much better than she was before. She is happy and she is safe and she's with her family and the herd. We are also going to give her a rumensin bolus which should help her process the newer grass better coming into spring.

I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with social media. Often when we aren't posting is when we are the most busy, and also I've been without my phone for the last week after it broke while introducing the kids to our new treatment unit (it was very rainy and apparently my rain pants are not actually waterproof 🙈).

Anyway, hope you all have a good Wednesday and, if life is hard, hopefully Violet's little milk face can make things a little bit better, even just for a moment.

17/07/2024

VIOLET UPDATE: ARE WE cRAzy?
Those of you following her story will know that the vets came out recently for Violet as well as our sweet Teddy bear - who is now cancer free after an operation on his eyes.

The news for Violet has taken me longer to share - in part because things have been changing every day and in part because im still tying to work out how we do this.

Violet has a form of laminitis. In itself, this is a manageable condition, but not with the facilites we have. On top of daily meds to get her through acute attacks, her hooves will need trimming every 8 weeks to manage the deformities. Violet is very averse to her hooves being touched so there is no way of doing this while she is lying down resting our run is not actually strong enough to hold her.

Essentially, to save Violet, we need better facilities - and soon. We dont have the funds for this at all. But I'm not giving up on this kid without fighting with everything I have.

Her mum, Batty, had every child taken away from her before she was rescued with her son Wheru (while pregnant with Violet). Now Wheru has cancer and at some point she will lose him too. We will do everything we can to support him while he is with us, but his cancer is terminal. I cant save him. I cant protect Batty from losing her beloved son, the first child not to be taken from her. But I refuse to accept that she will lose her daughter as well. I refuse to give up on Violet.

I've found a second hand, portable hoof trimming crush that would worm. It would also ensure we can look after all the other kids without putting ourselves and/or them at risk or needing the vets to come and sedate them.

It is $6500. It is at least an eight hour drive away in each direction. We still need to pay the vet bill which has come to $2370. Maybe I'm crazy but I believe we can do this.

How you can help:

Sharing this post. The more people we can reach, the better. Tell your friends, your whānau, your coworkers....

Donating - if you are able to, any amount is appreciated. See links at the bottom of post.

If you have any second hand items that you want gone or would be willing to donate, we can auction them off on this page and have the winner collect directly from you. If you can send us a photo and a description, ill get posting!!

Thank you for your patience with me and social media.

And a huge thank you to everyone who supports us and makes this sanctuary possible.

Much love to all

P.S. Links for donatuons:

Bank transfer:
38-9024-0809200-00
Sherock Sanctuary Charitable Trust

PayPal: [email protected]

Givealittle: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-sweet-teddy-to-get-surgery-for-eye-cancer

Ngā mihi nui x

09/07/2024

Stella with her Mama, Pirate 💙🐄🐄🥰💕

04/07/2024

"THIS IS MY FIGHT SONG" - Teddy is cancer free❤️‍🩹💪🏼💕 (update 1)

As some of you may know, we had the vets come out on Wednesday to treat our sweet Teddy bear, and also little Violet, who is having trouble with her walking. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated towards their vet bills so far, we've raised the first $270. We could not so this without you so please know how grateful we are to each and every person who supports us. 

I wanted to share the really good news first. Teddy is now cancer free!!! He had two cancerous lessions starting on his third eyelid and lowe lid but we were able to remove both with clear margins before it spread to either eyeball. This is really huge because this cancer can spread so very quickly and once into the eyeballs and system, you cant get rid of it. He is two days post op so still a bit sore but on good pain meds and already back with the herd. He is still susceptible to the cancer attacking again because of the lack of pigment in his skin but, for now, he is healthy and thats a really huge thing. 

While the vet was operating, the herd came around to the hospital area. They were really worried about him - Dinky kept calling and calling as did Zeus and Rusty. Now Teddy is back with his family 🥰❤️‍🩹🐄. 

The news with Violet is a lot harder, she is still with us for now but we've definitely got a long road ahead with a lot needed if we can get and keep her well. Ill share her story separately as I think Teddy deserves his own post here but we are definitely not ready to give up on her so keep an eye out for Violet updates soon. 

01/07/2024

For Violet and for her family.
Sorry for the long post....

Violet was the first baby born here into sanctuary. Our first freedom baby. We dont do any breeding but her mama, Batty, was pregnant when she was rescued. Violet also has a big brother Wheru who was rescued as a calf with Batty. Wheru is he most gentle, doting and loving big brother. And Batty is fiercly protective of both her kids with so so much love for them both. This family is always lying down together, nuzzling each other and looking out for each other.

Before she was rescued, Batty was used as a breeding beef cow. Every year, she would have a baby, raise them for six months and then her child would be taken away from her.

I never want her to go through the pain of losing another child. Wheru and Violet are her babies, their bond is indescribably beautiful and we will never separate them.

But Wheru has cancer. He is only 4 years old. He is doing well at the moment, but it is terminal and we dont know if he will have months or years with us. But it completely shatters my heart to comprehend that Batty may have to lose her son.

Now Violet is not okay.
She is having trouble walking and we aren't sure what is going on. We can see she is in pain, reluctant to get up and graze but it isnt presenting as "typical" lameness. We are concerned that she may have injured her lower spine, her hips or potentially issues in her lower back joints. She needs to have x rays taken to get as much information as we can, and the vets are coming tomorrow. We had the vets booked for last week but it's not usually done for "production animals" so we've had to get the equine team involved too. Big thank you to BayVets for organising this.

Getting the vets out will be expensive, as will the x rays and meds and any treatment options there may be. Im scared to find out but we need answers for her. Violet is a 3 year old child, still learning about the world with a family and friends who love her. With a mother who has already lost far far far too much.

Please consider donating to help us fight for Violet. They really need this. We have a givealittle page set up for her and Teddy (who will be having surgery for his eye cancer that same day). I'll also put our details below for direct donations (also in instagram bio and pinned posts)

38-9024-0809200-00
Sherock Sanctuary Charitable Trust

PayPal: [email protected]

https://donorbox.org/sherock-sanctuary-sponsors-herd-members-and-supporters

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-sweet-teddy-to-get-surgery-for-eye-cancer

Thank you Xx

28/06/2024

The way theyre holding hands and hose pure love eyes. 🥺❤️😍🐈
These two sisters were dumped and left to fend for themselves as kittens. Thankfully they found their way here. We were initially going to remove them but both girls have health issues and we refused to separate them. So they are part of the family now. Through everything that happened to them they've always had each other and now they will always have a home together.

25/06/2024

Do you remember Teddy's story?

Teddy was being loaded onto a slaughter truck when he ran for his life with two of his brothers (Rusty and Domino) and found our sanctuary. Now he has eye cancer and he needs our help 💔🐮

Teddy is a super sweet kid with the best heart. He is only 6 years old and has so much love to give. He is the child who comforts everyone else and seeks out anyone needing extra love to make sure they're ok. Our little Dinky who is still grieving for her mum follows Teddy around, asking for love and getting little nuzzles in return.

Now Teddy urgently needs treatment to remove the eye cancer and assess how to give him the best life possible with his brothers and the rest of his herd whānau.

This boy (and two of his last herdmates) survived against all odds. He was taken from his mama as a baby, broke free while being loaded for slaughter, avoided capture while being chased for 3 days through the forest then jumped 2 sets of fences to find our herd. He lost his mum and then so so many friends over the years. The farmer was retiring and culling the last of his herd. He was going to send someone here with a gun. How could we not fight for him?

We fought to save Teddy and his brothers but now he has cancer and he needs surgery. Vet call outs are really expensive because we live so far away so please, please share and help if you can.

We also Violet separated from the herd (with her mum and big brother of course) because she's been having issues with her walking. We aren't sure what's causing it exactly so she also needs to be assessed by the vets too and have some X rays taken.

It's going to be a really massive and also really expensive day. If anyone is able to share or help it would make so much difference.

You can donate through our givealittle page: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-sweet-teddy-to-get-surgery-for-eye-cancer

Or directly to our charity account:
38-9024-0809200-00
Sherock Sanctuary Charitable Trust

Or PayPal under [email protected]

Ngā mihi maioha ❤️

actuaries

22/06/2024

Haply Sunday Sunshine from Mammoth and everyone here 🥰🐑

21/06/2024

I am going to put a proper post together soon but wanted to share this as soon as possible in case anyone might see it earlier and share or be willing to donate. We have the vets booked for Wednesday and any amount would honestly go a huge way to helping these kids.

Thankfully our little Cookie Bear's foot has healed well enough for him to be running around outside again and, after $859+, 2 vet visits, 7 different meds, multiple interventions and six weeks of care, Dorky, Para and Matariki are thriving, having all made remarkeable recoveries from their reproductive diseases - smashing the odds that gave them a less than 1% chance of survival each.

We live super rurally (an hour and a half away from the vets) so call outs are really expensive but we now urgently need to treat Teddy's eye cancer. We also need have our precious Violet assessed properly; she's currently resting and getting lots of extra hay and nuts with her mum and brother as she's been having trouble walking. Unfortunately, she's not responding to basic treatment and we need to find out what's going on properly so we can help her get better.

Please know how grateful we are to each and every one of you all ###

P.S. Donations can also be made directly into our account or through PayPal:

Kiwibank: 38-9024-0809200-00
Sherock Sanctuary Charitable Trust

PayPal: [email protected]

Teddy was being loaded onto a slaughter truck when he ran for his life with his brothers and found our sanctuary. Now he has eye cancer 💔🐮

13/06/2024

COOKIE BACK INSIDE
Our little Cookie Bubba hurt his foot. It needs to stay clean, dry and bandaged with antibiotic ointment and padding so he's hanging out with us on the catio and the deck. He's a bit bored and sore but getting lots of pain meds and extra treats and cuddles. Thankfully he's letting us change his bandage every day while he gets cuddles to make sure the wound is healing well.

I can't believe how fast this little one is growing. His little legs are the size his whole body was and he's only 7-8 months old.

Love you my Lil Cookie bear

07/06/2024

Look how long my wings are!
I just love those end feathers. So beautiful.

02/06/2024

Apparently wheetbix is very offensive lol.
With Rusty's cancer progressing, we know we don't have much time left. We are still waiting to make the call as he is still having some really good days with real joy and comfort and play and naps with his family, especially when the sun is shining. He is also starting to have some days where its not fair anymore. We are spending as much time with him as possible so that we can listen to what he needs and make the call when it is right for him.

In the meantime, comfort food and treats are extra important. I know we are on a really tight budget. But when the chickies aren't well, they get blueberries after their meds. When everything feels so brutally heartbreaking and out of control, extra special comfort food is a small thing we can do for Rusty and his family - and also hands down my favorite time of the day.

We knew that he absolutely LOVES sweetfeed (a grainy molasses mix) so we bought some of that for him and he's been getting some every day. We also wanted to see what other snacks he might like so we went to the four square and bought one or two of pretty much every fruit/veg they had. He very much enjoyed the apple and pear. When we offered the wheetbix and kiwifruit however, he was so offended that he sniffed it and then walked away and ignored us for a solid couple hours lol. But then happily snacked on some citrus later in the day.

We've also been making sure Teddy and Domino and his herd family get lots of extra love.

Love you always my boy.

28/05/2024

THE RAINBOW CONNECTION

This is one of those posts that is just really hard to write - or to find the right words for

This photo, of Teddy and Pirate is so beautiful and it makes me cry. Look at their expressions...

At the start of the year, our precious Moony Moo was diagnosed with eye cancer. We got he vets out ASAP, and they removed his third eyelids but this cancer is so very aggressive that it was also already in his eyes

We tried so so so hard to plan out a safe flat paddock where he could live with his beloved mama, Mutti, as a blind cow so that we could remove the cancer and give him more time

We tried so hard, but found that no vet will remove both eyes as it is against the law - given they are considered to be production animals only, where this would be unfair

This has meant trying to come to terms with the fact that we will eventually lose our beloved boy, as will his mama and his family. And sooner than we had expected. We are watching him closely and for now, he is happy, we just don't know how much longer we have. He is only 4 years old, still feeding from is mama. He is a small child with the purest soul - and the first child his mama did not have taken away from her

A few months later, our boy Rusty got the same diagnosis

Now Tedddy has it too

Rusty and Teddy found us after literally fleeing a slaughter truck wih their brother Domino. They lost their mamas, and then their friends and brothers and herdmates and families over and over again

Rusty is our sleepy gentle giant. Teddy has the biggest heart and is always giving love and comfort to the kids around him

They are just kids. Beautiful, loving pure-hearted kids. They don't deserve this. If only love was enough to save them, to save the others from having to lose them when they have already lost so much. I would move heaven and earth for them. It just isn't fair and it breaks my heart more than I know how to put into words

This cancer is extremely aggressive and insidious. It affects almost exclusively the kids wih white faces. It is also yet another thing they are suffering with because of what we humans have put them through. We have bred them to produce and not to survive.

To quote the American Hereford Society: "The characteristic whiteface of these Hereford-influenced calves serves as a symbol of the breed's contributions — efficiency foremost — to the commercial industry."

The commercial industry does not care if the white face means that most of the kids will get eye cancer because they are almost all killed for beef before their second birthday.

Becuase breeding/milking mothers are kept for a bit longer, the dairy industry has started introducing genetics to add black patches around their eyes to reduce economic losses due to eye cancer.

These are kids. Kids with families who love them. Mothers, sons, survivors, friends, comfortors. Our rescue family have been through far more trauma than anyone should know. But even when we rescue, we are powerless to change the genetics they have been given.

I look at this photo and it makes me cry because I do not want to lose my beautiful amazing, loving Teddy bear. It makes me cry because I do not want my Pirate girl to lose another friend. It makes me cry because I see our Dinky girl behind him. After losing her mama, she had always found it hard to bond to the herd but, when we rescued Teddy, she found a solace and comfort with him, and is often seen nuzzling with him, following him around, or peeking out from hehind him.

What I wouldnt do to protect her from the pain of losing him. To protect Moony's mama. To protect Domino from losing both his brothers and the only surviving members of his last family. To protect a herd who found solace in each other, who made a themselves a family of love here deslite everything - from suffering even more immesurable loss and grief.

Every part of me wants to protect this beautiful family of rescues. To protect each of them as individuals. To protect the relationships they have forged. To protect the fragile sense of trust and safety they have gained. I just want to protect them and I can't. I don't know how I can explain to my girl Mutti why the son she loves with her whole heart is going to die. I don't know how to explain that pain. I watched Caramoo grieve for her son Patches. Nobody should have to know that pain. I would do just about anything to protect them and I can't.

We are putting all of ourselves into looking after everyone and er will do everything we can, we will always put their comfort and their needs first.

I'm sorry we have been a bit out of touch with updates and that it has taken a while to share these diagnoses.

I dont know how to put a positive spin on this post. This one just hurts.

If i ask anything, it is to please share their stories. I want people to learn who these kids are. To see WHO they are. We have been so very conditioned not to see that. Not to see that or to see the suffering caused when we tear their families apart and use them to produce beef or dairy. We have been conditoned but that doesnt mean we cant unlearn that story. These kids need us to see them. Because we do have some power to make this stop. We can choose not to support these industries. We can share their stories so others can know the truth and make kind choices too.

I dream of where that is possible.

07/05/2024

EXCITING NEWS - please share 💕
So, in the past few months, we've had some really big vet bills. With Rusty and Moony both needing operations for Eye cancer, Remie's breathing issues, 3 chickies in intensive care including implants, meds, coelemic flushing plus fluke treatment and vaccinations  for all the big kids...
On top of this, we've had multiple health issues in the family meaning needing to have time off.

With more big expenses coming up, I was starting to get quite overwhelmed wondering how we could raise the money to cover these costs. Then, a special angel human said she would be willing to be a donor match and I felt like maybe we can do this!!

This means any donations up to $750 will be matched and you have double the impact!!!

We really need to cover these bills so please donate if you can and share this around so we can reach lots of people. If lots of people gave a little bit, we could really do this ❤❤

For direct donations, you can transfer straight into our Sherock Sanctuary account: 38-9024-0809200-00

You can also donate through PayPal under [email protected] or through our donorbox website from anywhere in the world:
https://donorbox.org/sherock-sanctuary-sponsors-herd-members-and-supporters

We are genuinely incredibly grateful to everyone single person who supports us; these rescue kids deserve to be looked after and live out their lives and this mission simply would not be possible without you all 💗😇❤🐔🐂🐄🐃🦢🦆🐷🐗🐈🦥🐦

01/05/2024

20/04/2024

REMIE UPDATE ❤
He's actually sleeping and I could cry. It's the first time he has been able to rest properly. The last couple nights were quite brutal with Remie unable to breathe well or without pain. He'll need some more time to recover but the meds have started to kick in and it looks like they are working. His breathing is beginning to ease and just this afternoon, he's been able to properly rest for the first time in days. I'm so so grateful and relieved that the meds seem to be working. He is finally able to have some reprieve and, with supportive care and lots of love, he should be back to his happy Remie self soon. Thank you so much to everyone who has been thinking of him and sending love. I truly do beleive it helps and it means a lot.