After posting the item last night here on the website and also on our Facebook page, two people very kindly came forward to sponsor Licorice and Chanel, so a big thanks goes to Samantha Allen and Samantha Lane. Sam Allen is also looking at sponsoring another pig or maybe a couple of roosters, and she has also contributed towards the nose-ringing of the piglets. 

One of our supporters brought up a concern about the nose-ringing of pigs and it caused some interesting discussion on our Facebook page. If you're interested please look for the post here.

 

 

We are now over our limit of roosters because the new home for our eleven temporary visitors fell through, and they will be staying here. With the help of our Spanish and French-speaking volunteers we came up with names for the ten unnamed ones (We had already named Fred the frizzle). Because we have two sets of three roosters that look very much alike, we chose matching French, Spanish and English names for them. In these photos below, meet Fred, Jacques, Louis, François, Etienne, Marc, Marcel, Marcos, John, Juan and Jean!

  

  

We have been very fortunate to have the company of three lovely people from overseas. Alvaro and Perrine, from Spain and Belgium, and Amandine from France, have been a great help over the last couple of weeks and we will be very sorry to see them go.  The animals have loved the extra attention, especially the dogs!

  

  

Last week was a very difficult week. My daughter broke her leg on Wednesday in her PE class and needed surgery so that was a couple of days in hospital. While we there one of our dogs, Kellie, ran away in the middle of a huge thunder storm. Four days later and she finally came home. She ended up with a family about 3km away and was well looked after while they searched for her home. Unfortunately, we won't be able to keep Max. He is such a lovely dog but being the only male in our pack of females, his presence is causing jealousies and quite a bit of scrapping. On the good side, we have found a home for Laura the kitten, where she will be well loved and well looked after. We had hoped to keep her but now that my daughter is unable to play with her and look after her, it wasn't fair to keep her. Yesterday, Alvaro (from Spain) and Perrine (from Belgium) arrived here and they are helping us out for a few days. It is perfect timing because I'm busy with looking after my daughter. They ...

Angus and Duncan arrived here together, and they have left together, adopted by a local man who wanted them to look after his hens.  I am sure they are very happy to have a bunch of new girlfriends and we hope they are looking after them well!

 

Max came here when we decided to become foster parents for Chained Dog Awareness. I should have known better! We fell in love with him and so he's here to stay! He was rescued at the age of about 18 months from being on a chain 24/7, living in his own faeces and riddled with fleas. He had been chosen to replace an old dog and he had to watch that dog die beside him on a chain. After that kind of life, he is desperate for attention and affection and he has settled in well here with the other dogs. My daughter found the kitten at the netball courts last Friday night. She and her friends looked for the mother but had no luck and as it was getting dark we decided to bring her home. She looks like she is less than six weeks old. At first she was very timid but now she is very friendly and playful. My niece, Laura, chose her name!                               ...

We had a very pleasant day today with the staff and families from Auckland MedLab, St Heliers. The animals loved the attention and the extra food that these people brought with them.

   

     

Erin, from China, has been staying with us and helping out for the last ten days. She has been in NZ since last June and will be heading home soon. Thanks for all your help, Erin!