‘Special needs’ animals find their place of sanctuary
One-legged ducks, a bullied pig and other misfits would go to slaughter but for the kindness of a rural shelter
A SANCTUARY for animals with “special needs” has opened in an attempt to save them from the slaughterhouse. More than
100 animals with physical disabilities and behavioural problems are now cared for at Manor Farm, Bilsthorpe, Notts.
Several began their lives as part of animal attractions at petting zoos, while others were saved from the slaughterhouse at the eleventh hour.
Some animals came from other shelters that could not deal with the animals’ needs. Di Slaney, the founder, said it was important for the sanctuary to treat disabled animals the same as those without health issues. One-legged ducks, arthritic sheep and goats with joint problems are among the 172 animals cared for at the sanctuary.
One resident is a sheep called Dumpy, who has a deformed jaw after it grew teeth big enough for a horse. The problem was not clear when it first came to the centre. “When he arrived he was under a year old, so his teeth hadn’t fully grown yet,” said Mrs Slaney. “The deformity would probably have never been seen because his whole family would have been on a plate before the issue was clear.” Mrs Slaney had a career in marketing before starting the sanctuary. She and her husband purchased farmland by their house and chose to return it to its original use by repopulating it with livestock. They never wanted it as a working farm, so chose to use it to rehome disabled animals who could not be housed elsewhere.
They began by taking in chick- ens, before expanding to larger animals such as donkeys, goats and sheep.
Dumpy is one of several sheep on the sanctuary who have been saved from the slaughterhouse. “Animal attractions get rid of sheep past the cute stage,” said Mrs Slaney. “They are used for bottle-feeding in the springtime or nativity scenes at Christmas. But after that, they’re a drain on resources, so they go right into the food chain.
“It’s an unseen, nasty thing behind the scenes. It should be explained for visitors going to this place that animals
‘Animal attractions get rid of sheep past the cute stage. It’s an unseen, nasty thing behind the scenes’
aren’t living long and happy lives there, particularly sheep, who have a high value as food.”
Other residents of the farm include Stumble, a one-legged duck, Ronnie, an overgrown goat, and Dylan, a sheep with arthritis. A partially sighted pig called Simon with deformed legs came from a shelter where it had been living with bigger pigs that “bullied” it.
♦a woman who helped a peer compile the Animal Welfare Act has admitted a string of cruelty charges involving horses, tropical birds and rabbits. Sara Ross, 54, from Dorney, Bucks, who was assistant to Lord Houghton when he piloted the protection Bill through the Commons, ill-treated animals at a sanctuary she ran in Buckinghamshire, a district judge heard. She will be sentenced on Wednesday.