Although their ages are unknown, Shelly & Mocha are at least 8 years old. Due to their caregivers moving, they need a place where they will continue to be loved and doted on for the rest of their natural lifespans. They must not be used for breeding and their new home must be slaughter-free.

In the words of their current caregiver, “They are strapping big girls, with lovely thick coats of wool, and are in very good general health. They are drenched every 12 weeks and are given preventative treatment for fly strike in the summer season. We also tidy their feet every couple of months and take care to have them shorn at the times most likely to be comfortable for them – depending on weather temperatures and wool growth. They are not quite petting-friendly, but will usually come for food treats of bread, apple, carrots, etc. They must be re-homed together and will cry out if parted.”

During winter months their feed is topped up every day with hard food – they particularly like Multi-feed nuts. Mocha (with the dark face) is more reserved than Shelly, but they can both be hand-fed by a trusted guardian.

This lovely pair are currently living in rural Auckland. Please apply with a description of the lifestyle you could provide for Shelly and Mocha if you are successful in giving them a safe home.

Strict adoption criteria applies.

With their 10 acre block on the market, Fiona has asked me to find special homes for some of the animals in their care.

Fred is a handsome bay gelding who is approximately 26 years old. His racing name was Rodney Bay, but he has enjoyed the last 10 years being lovingly cared for and sharing his life with paddock mate, Kelly. Sadly, she was older than him and passed away in 2010. The two of them were inseparable and Fred has really missed her. He must be adopted into a home where he will have another horse for company.

In Fiona’s words, “Fred is in fine fitness. Our property is quite hilly in places, but he frequently goes for a run where he easily and speedily negotiates the paddocks. I would describe him as a serious, thinking horse, with a mischievous side. He loves to play up to an audience, bucking and twirling in quite spectacular fashion when the occasion takes him – usually when he goes to a new paddock. He tolerates grooming, but I never get the feeling he is basking in pampered bliss at these times.

Fred is very bonded to my Dad, who pays him daily attention with food treats of apples, carrots and gum nuts to supplement his grazing. He is used to a reasonable amount of space because our paddocks are quite large and he often has access to two or three at any given time. He also has good shelter, with plenty of trees - and he’s even been known to squeeze into the half-round shelter in one paddock! He is friendly and good to handle”.

Fred has not been ridden during his time with Fiona and we would like that to continue. His feet and teeth have just been attended to, including one tooth extraction and he has also recently been drenched.

Fred is currently living in rural Auckland. Adoption criteria apply.

UPDATE: Pending the construction of a comfortable, straw-filled shelter, Lily, Leonard and Floyd will be welcomed into a family home - with much excitement. Please keep an eye on the HAPPY ENDINGS pages. Many thanks to others who applied to adopt this sweet trio. I need back-up homes for pigs - so please contact me if you can offer any of them a slaughter and breed-free home.

When her marriage ended, Jane found herself struggling with the upkeep of the animals. She cannot afford to fix the fencing that would keep her family trio of full-size pet Kunekune pigs securely on the property. Because of this they are in a small enclosure and unable to access the grass they need. Jane is having difficulty providing them with enough food.

On top of this, her house is about to go to sale - so Lily, Leonard and Floyd need to be quickly adopted into homes where they can live out the length of their natural lifespans.

Lily and Leonard are both 7 years old and they are the entire parents of 5-year-old Floyd who is neutered. None of them have nose-rings or root up the ground.This is what Jane has to say about these beautiful animals:

“They are wonderful pigs. All are extremely friendly...including the boar who loves tummy rubs! They have been used to people, children and other animals. Ideally I would like to keep them all together - Lily and her son especially because he is a real mummy’s boy and has caused himself injury in the past to get back to her whenever I've tried to separate them.

Leonard, however, is my main priority as he is the one who keeps getting out - he loves cows and will walk for miles to find them! He's a really lovely character but giving me nightmares at the moment because the patience of the neighbouring farm owners is wearing thin”.

Please contact me if you are able to offer permanent (or foster) homes to this family of three, or to Lily and Floyd together - or to Leonard on his own.

They will need access to grass, table scraps, commercial feed and fresh water. They will also need secure fencing. It would be lovely if they could all have a home where their friendly natures could be maintained through lots of human love, touch and interaction. I very much look forward to your applications. Adoption criteria applies, including a breeding ban and tri-annual visits by Animal Re-homing. Thank you.

Below is some information and history provided by Jane on each of these super-friendly pets.

Lily: Born October 2004. (Orange with black spots).
Purchased as a piglet at about 6-weeks-old from a private breeder. Lily is such a sweetie. She has a lovely, gentle nature and she has been a wonderful mother to 3 healthy litters, all fathered by Leonard. I haven't bred her for a few years now and I believe she may now be too old. She has, on rare occasions, gone through the fence when Leonard has gone missing but has never wandered off. She comes straight back in again when called, if not before. She likes her routine and regularly takes herself off to bed in her shed at dusk. This place is all she's ever known and she seems to have been very content.

Leonard: Born 2004. (Black).
Bought via an advert from a lady who had him from a piglet. He was roughly 18-months-old when I took him. The lady had allowed him indoors and would take him for daily walks with her young children. He would then be left in a tiny area, with shelter, but no grass. His only companions were cows in the neighbour's paddock. He had started breaking out and taking himself for walks to be with the neighbour’s cows and horses. The owners of the horses were not happy about this and threatened to have him shot! Hence her sale to me. That must be where his devotions to cattle stems from. Since I've had him he's been very happy and good natured. He's been happy living with my other Kunekune. He does still have that strong tendency to wander however, especially if there are cows nearby in neighbouring paddocks - and will soon find any chink in the fencing. In the past he has always come back when I call him by name, or I could go and walk him back and he would simply follow. More recently he's been going further afield, and was missing for a whole week on one occasion until he thankfully turned up quite some way away. He needs a strong, securely fenced paddock in which to be contained. He has a fabulous character. Placid nature, very talkative and loves attention - just a scratch down his snout and he will collapse in a heap for a belly rub.

Floyd: Born 26th December 2006. (Originally black with brown stripes, now all black).
The son of Lily and Leonard. He was a standout little piglet. I was there at his birth and he was one of the largest of his litter and the first to venture outside with his mum. Unlike some of his siblings I've never seen him get in a scrap or be in the least grumpy or spiteful. He was inquisitive, confident and friendly from the get-go. He has been a real mummy’s boy since birth and has followed her everywhere. I have tried to separate them in the past, putting him with his dad in a different paddock, but he has never stayed put. By hook or by crook, and often causing himself injury, he will get back to her. When he was neutered I made him a bed in a pen beneath the house for the night, so he could be warm and safe while he recovered fully from the anaesthetic. By the next morning he had gone. He must have physically jumped or scrambled over the top of the pen and down over the other side - quite a drop! Then somehow he found his way out under a closed door, got across the garden, through more fences and gates. I found him the next day back with his mother, with a large slice of his nose just hanging, presumably cut on fence wire. He recovered and just has a little bump now to show for his escapades. He has never attempted to escape from the boundary but is still with his mother constantly and they sleep together in their shed. Hence my preference to keep at least these two together if at all possible.

NOTE: Their caregiver is struggling to provide enough food for these friendly pigs. Sacks of ‘Pig Tucker’ are $25.00. Please click here to sponsor a bag of food for them while we seek out a safe haven. Thank you.

An Auckland park has become crowded with geese who are crossing a busy road and leaving their faeces on the footpaths. To their credit, the park staff are determined to prevent a cull (slaughter) and they have approached us for help to humanely re-home them.

We are looking for safe havens for groups of these beautiful birds.

Geese will keep the grass down, fertilize the land and they make good pets and excellent watchdogs. They will need protection from roaming dog attacks. Their new homes should provide large lawn or pasture areas on which the birds can graze, and have access to fresh drinking water every day. They love to swim, so preference will be given where a pond, dam or other open body of water is available – which would also provide an escape area for them. Life style blocks, smallholdings and farms would provide suitable homes.

An effort will be made to keep the birds in their family groups and therefore we would prefer to re-home them in clusters of five or more. Depending on the quality of the pasture, an acre will support 10–20 geese. If it’s excellent quality and marshy, more could be accommodated. Supplementary wheat and other feed, grit and mash would, of course, always be much appreciated. Eggs should be collected to avoid population growth - the infrequently laid eggs can be eaten.

Natural or manmade shelter should be provided. Three sided, double stacked hay bales with a roofing material secured over the top would be sufficient if a straw flooring is regularly replaced.

If you would like to offer sanctuary to some geese, please study the many websites on the subject of their care.

Delivery of groups of birds will be organised within the Auckland Region covering Auckland City, Waitakere, Manukau, North Shore, Rodney, Franklin and Papakura.

If you would like to adopt less than five geese or you are able to give a home to birds outside of the Auckland Region, this could be arranged - provided that you are willing to collect and safely transport them yourself. 

Because some people exploit geese for their flesh and feathers, please only approach other parties who you know are genuine in their desire to preserve the lives of animals in strife. Successful applicants must be willing to have me or my representative visit the geese at about three monthly intervals for the length of their natural lifspan (20-30 years). 

If you, or others you know, are able to offer a safe haven to any number of these fascinating creatures, I look forward to your application. Thank you so much for being part of a compassionate solution.

NOTE: The goose pictured on the upper right has angel wing, so will not be able to fly. This usually results when water birds are fed a diet which is too high in bread.