Sanctuary Under The Stars

14/04/2025

URGENT HOME NEEDED FOR SWEET MISCHIEF TWINS - and mum. Northland Auckland bases. Call 02040280434

These two little ones, Maple and Waffles, are looking for a new home - they were rescued from someone who had a couple goats for dairy. They were getting rid of the twins as they getting older and were drinking too much milk. We'd arranged to take them a couple weeks on but we're then approached saying they either go now or the dogs will be let in to their pen with their mother chained nearby. So we piled them into the back of the car. Wit the craziness of the move it would have been an extreme challenge to keep them here but our incredible sister sanctuary, agreed to take them while we find a home.

They've now been desexed and are very very really to go to there forever home where they can settle. The farmers are looking to replace the mum in the near future. They are still grieving for her and her for them so we are looking for someone who would also be able to take the mum when we can have her surrendered.

An idea home would also have another goat friend to help them settle as they ate searching for their mum. But would love to find anyone with an open heart and good chainfree setup who is looking for some extra little family members.

If you can take these 2 and their mum if/when we can rescue her, please please get in touch with me on 02040280434

Arohanui

10/04/2025

Mutti, Violet, Moony and Louis being an absolute mood 😴 The set-up work on the new sanctuary site is going strong, but there still soo much to do. A big thank you to everyone who is helping us in any way they can - we appreciate you a lot 💛
Now it's time to do what Mutti, Violet, Moony and Louis love to do - sleep! So we got enough energy for another full on day tomorrow 💪🏻
Pō marie ⭐️

08/04/2025

*UPDATE; all hens have found forever homes for this weekends rescue. However we still need Auckland forever homes for the 26th April.

FOREVER HOMES URGENTLY NEEDED FOR THE 13TH APRIL.

These hens deserve a forever home where they can experience sunshine, grass, FREEDOM and love. We have 95 hens who still need to find their forever home to ensure we can take any rehab hen that needs our help. NO HEN LEFT BEHIND.

ADOPTION POINTS:

* FEILDING (Manawatu)
*INGLEWOOD (Taranaki)

These hens are COLONY CAGED hens and deserve to find their forever homes... so if your wanting to adopt keep reading below 🐔

These girls are 16 months old brown shavers and are the perfect addition to any family and deserve to find their FOREVER homes.

HOW TO ADOPT: Please send us a message with your contact details and photos of hen house and hen area.

*Please note adoption donations do apply to help cover parasite treatment and health checks.

Can't adopt? Please spread the word and share our post. Or donate towards any rehab hens - New Beginnings Rescue & Rehoming 06-0709-0926847-00

Help us help the hens 🐔

07/04/2025

SEEKING SECONDHAND WATER TANK Is anyone selling a second hand 10-15000 (or bigger) water tank?

Setting up the new property, water is absolutely essential and we need a big tank for this!! If anyone has a tank they would be willing to sell us, we would love to hear from you before we resort to buying new.

Anywhere in upper North Island - te Ika a Maui could be doable.

Ngā mihi maioha

03/04/2025

1,500 battens! We recently received the first of two big batten deliveries (4,000 battens in total). Hearing the numbers and seeing the amount of wood that is needed to even just reinforce the existing exterior fence makes you really understand how much work it is.
We feel so so so grateful for the incredible human who donated all of the battens, and also to our phenomenal sister sanctuary The Animal Sanctuary, for partnering with us, helping in every way they can and moving so many mountains to make this possible - thank you ❤️

The cows will move here at the end of April, so now fencing is our main priority (as well as laying out water pipes). Another huge project but keeping our kids safe is what we dedicated our lives to, and fencing is an important part of keeping them safe.
If there is anyone who would like to help us with setting up a safe haven for our wonderful animals, please PM us. We are looking for some helping hands on the land (especially with the time sensitive fencing and water projects).
Sending you all lots of love from us and our kids 🐮🐷🐑🐓🪿❤️

19/03/2025

AUCTION FUNDRAISER FOR OUR NEW HOME ⭐️

Kia ora te whānau
We are incredibly grateful to Nigel, who donated two brand new Samsung products for our fundraiser.

The first product is a Super Fast Wireless Charger Duo, market value probably a little more than $100.

And the second one is a new Galaxy Watch6 smartwatch, market value probably around $400.

Please note: the items are auctioned separately so please add which product you're bidding for in your comment.
The highest bid on either Facebook or Instagram will receive the item via post.

You can place your bids in the comments. The auction will be running until 6pm on Sunday, 23rd of March.

Everything we raise goes towards setting up our new sanctuary site and creating a safe haven for our wonderful animals.

Ngā mihi nui ❤️🐮🐷🐑🐓🦆

18/03/2025

Shout out to the best SideChicks, Sally and Para. They are both special needs girls so have them closeby us and they're definitely good at keeping up the good vibes. Today they've been helping me fence the exterior boundary at our new home while Dalina is on placement teaching at the local primary school. Rly hope everyone is having a great start to the week ❤️🐔🐑🐃🐄🦆🦢🦃🐦🐽

12/03/2025

So grateful to The Animal Sanctuary for partnering with us to make the impossible possible. And also to every single helping heart out there ###

FUNDRAISING AUCTION #1:
2 NIGHTS IN MATAKANA
Enjoy the last of summer with a 2 day/night retreat in beautiful Matakana. Visit the famous weekend markets, vineyards, beaches etc. Rated “Guest Favourite, 5 stars” on airbnb.co.nz/h/matakana
Retail on Air B&B is $591.
Place bids in comment section below. Ends Wednesday 8pm.

ABOUT THE SPACE: In a bowl of lush native forest, our tiny cabin offers a sanctuary to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with nature. Far from the city, the nights are dark and starry and the mornings filled with birdsong. Fall still in the meditation nook, select a book, or take a nature trail straight from your door. Find solace, inspiration or simply relax and unwind, or try some Qi Gong or forest bathing with your host. The vibrant Matakana village, market, beaches and trails are only minutes away.
The space
Our property sits in a bowl of forests in the hills of Matakana. It is at the base of Mt Tamahunga. We have 4 acres of grassy fields directly surrounded by forest and bush with stunning views. In the hills, miles from city life, we're only 7 minutes from the village with all its well-known attractions. Over the hills in the other direction is the wild and beautiful Pakiri beach, or take a 35 min drive to the fabulous Te Arai Links restaurant for dinner or lunch, it's well worth the trip.
Guest access
You will have access to a warm, tiny house and sunny deck, with a kitchenette, shower, flushing toilet, bed nook and a cosy meditation and reading space above. You are welcome to walk around the field below your house, picnic on the land and explore the forest through neighbouring property access.
Other things to note
We value our quietude, nature immersion and privacy so request no parties or very loud music, especially at night when the stillness is special.

07/03/2025

UPDATE - all have found homes, thank you!
Thank you also for your patience while i reoly to everyone ❤️

!URGENT HOMES NEEDED - RETIRED OLD HORSE and 4-8 small SHEEP

Located Maungatoroto, northland/auckland but can transport. Ideally we are looking for one home for all the sheep but Nigget can definitely go separately.

Due to circumstances beyond their control, the couple who have these animals are needing to downsize and move fromt heir lifestyle block.

This means that their beloved 28 year old retired horse Nugget and their sheep are needing new homes.

Three of the sheep are older mama sheep with one friendly young boy Limmy (and potentially 4 other young boys). The boys are all desexed and the sheep have just had their feet trimmed. They are quite a small breed and will come for nuts and happily eat around you. Some are more confident than others and also enjoy a good scratch.

The ideal home for Nugget would be someone who already has an older retired horse or donkey so he can have a companion. Nugget needs to be fed twice a day and cannot eat hay because he doesnt have teeth anymore. He is otherwise happy and healthy, but cant keep his weight up without extra feeds.

The sheep are looking for a loving home where they wont be eaten or bred from and will be shorn at least twice a year plus hoofcare.

Their family have tried to rehome them locally but they are now running out of options.

If anyone is able to offer either Nugget or the sheep a safe, loving home, please email us at [email protected] or contact me on 02040280434

Ngā mihi nui

05/03/2025

🐔 CHICKEN EMERGENCY 🐔
OOH WOW! We've just learned our next Northern hen rescue with Franklin Farm Sanctuary has been brought forward a whole month to March 30th!!!!!! 🙀🙀🙀 YIKES!!
That's just 3 weeks away, and we need to approve homes for 350 hens before then!
Pickup points are in:
- Kerikeri
- Whangarei
- Matakana (our animal sanctuary)
- Albany.
The adoption fee is little more than a coffee per hen.
PLEASE save a life (or 10), and fill in the application form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOxrHL0gGiT7oDrbUgtojYwItUnL5WGIYqwsw1PahqZmPA8A/viewform
If the form doesn't work for you, just email [email protected] with the number of hens you need, photos of your enclosure, your phone number and preferred pickup point. Sally will be checking applications every evening until we have these hens homed, so definitely reach out if you've applied and have not heard anything!! 🙏❤️
I know we can do this. We've done it before, we just need absolutely everyone pushing this.
Please SHARE far and wide, tell your neighbors without Facebook, and drop it into conversation at the local coffee shop...
LET'S SAVE SOME LIVES! 🥰🐔

03/03/2025

CATCHING MY BREATH
The big move is real. It's happening. It's huge. It's hope. It's more than a little terrifying but we will get there. The sale has gone through and officially own the property which means we can lease to buy. And it also means we can start getting everything setup. Without this partnership and all the incredible support from them, we would not be able to do this at all and we are eternally grateful.

We are also beyond grateful to the incredible support from the community, whether you have donated some materials from around your property, supported financially or helped in any way, please know how grateful we are and how instrumental you are to making this seemingly impossible mission into a reality.

Our contracters from have started making the road that leads to the property and are doing an incredible job. Will post some pics of their progress soon.

Ngā mihi maioha e te whānau

26/02/2025

I've been telling Awatea, Stella and Shadow all about our big move. In partnership with the incredible Shawn Bishop from The Animal Sanctuary, we have gone unconditional on the property and soon we can start working on the many many projects for the new land. The amount of fencing, roading, building, etc that is required is quite overwhelming, but it is all worth it for our beuatiful kids. I can already see them lying down in that stunning clearing (second picture). Let‘s hope Awatea, Stella and Shadow are getting the rest of the herd prepared for our new chapter - our new home ❤️

19/02/2025

When the moo kids take naps 💤🐮☀️
Don't worry Bugsy and Violet aren't dead - they just like to sleep like that 🙈

17/02/2025

I just found out about this incredible team and I am absolutely blown away. All my acknowledgements and gratitude to the incredible incredible mahi this team is doing. They volunteer their hours to run an online boutique, selling second hand items to raise funds for animal rescues in Aotearoa.

When it comes to running a rescue, so so so many things literally come down to funds. This week should we fix the quad bike, pay the vet bill, fix the broken yards or buy more bandages? Once our existing rescues are cared for, their are so many other animals in need and we often have to turn them away - because we simply do not have the funds. Fundraising directly saves lives and what this group does is incredible.

Not to mention selling awesome stuff second hand to reduce waste and consumerism culture.

Rescues cannot operate without support so to every volunteer, please know that you are literally saving lives, keeping rescues running. As a sanctuary Mama, I have a huge amount of gratitude for the work you guys are doing.

If anyone is looking for boutique items, you should absolutely check out their store, find something awesome and know that you are genuinely helping animals throughout Aotearoa.

Massive Tautoko.

I’ve just done a tally and we are sooooo close to the $10k mark 🥳 That’s $9994.76 into the hands of the animal rescue crews, supporting their work.

Thank you as always to the amazing friends and family (and strangers!) who repeatedly reach out to offer moral and practically support. There are many hours of invisible work behind the scenes and that helps to make it all feel worth it.

At the end of the day, we set up to help animal rescues, so let’s do another giveaway to celebrate and take us a step closer to $25k!

Our next $500 giveaway will be posted soon 🥰

11/02/2025

SANCTUARY UNDER THE STARS

"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you"

I've sung that to Mammoth as he grieved for Wooly. For little Remie when he had nightmares in his sleep. Reminding our kids of all the love and safety they have in the world of stars watching over them.

Maybe it seems a bit esseteric, maybe its just what I want to beleive but , in the stars, I see flickers of those we've lost. Not in a literal way but there is a part of me that believes they live on in the stars all around us.

Whenever I've felt most alone, lost sense of who I am or how to keep going, when life seems like a whirlwind i cant escape or find my way through,- the stars are always there. I've come to rely on that. There is somehow an immense solace and comfort in being under the stars.

So, for the new name of the sanctuary as we take this huge leap with a new start, and a new home, we couldn't think of a better new name to capture the safe haven we want to create than Sanctuary Under The Stars.

- in loving memory of Wooly, Caramoo, Patches, Bossie, Red, Taps, Sandy, Greygrey, Hazel, Dropsy, Babs, Biddy, Dinky’s mum, Rā, Huru and the so many others who have now passed into starland. We miss you every day and we won't let you down.

06/02/2025

Oh how the piggies love their baths 🐽
Cookie was splashing around in the water and then Johhny and Niue fell asleep in the wallow 🥰

Hope everyone has something to keep them cool during those hot days ☀️

31/01/2025

UPDATE ALL HENS NOW HAVE FOREVER HOMES TO GO TO 🐔

FREEDOM FEBRUARY

These wonderful girls will be 16 months old, they are brown shavers and are being rescued from Colony Cages and DESERVE to find their forever homes and explore the life of a normal hen.

Our adoption point will be in Feilding (Saturday adoption collection early Feb) and Inglewood (Saturday evening early Feb adoption collection)

To apply please send us a message with your contact details with photos of your hen house and hen area.

We have less then 2 weeks to find these girls wonderful homes so please share and spread the word about hens needing Manawatu & Taranaki forever homes.

*Please note adoptions fees do apply.

(Auckland Applications are now open so send us a message. 🐔)

Can't adopt? Please spread the word, share our post and help us find these hens their forever homes.

Let's find these girls their forever homes 🐔🐔